17a-Ethinylestradiol abatement by O-doped porous carbon nitride in the presence of peroxydisulfate

The oxygen-doped porous carbon nitride (O-PCN) was prepared via calcinating oxalic acid and urea to activate peroxydisulfate (PS) for abatement of 17a-ethinylestradiol (EE2) under visible light. The results indicated that O-PCN possessed relatively higher specific area (50.48 m(2) g(-1)), larger pore volume (0.168 cm(3) g(-1)), larger average size (14.33 nm) and thinner layer compared to g-C3N4. This structure feather can utilize light more efficiently because more light can penetrate the pore of O-PCN reflect in the pores and reflect. Most importantly, O-PCN has quasi-full-visible-light response (790 nm) compared to pure g-C3N4 (480 nm), which can broaden utilization efficiency of visible light range. In PS/O-PCN/Vis system, 6 mg/L EE2 can be completely removed only within 20 min, and degradation rate constant of EE2 is 6.81 and 2.00 times than those in PS/g-C3N4/Vis and O-PCN/Vis systems. The h(+) and center dot O-2(-) are main contributors for EE2 abatement in the PS/O-PCN/Vis system. The effect of anion (Cl-, HCO3-, NO3- and SO42-) and typical natural organic matters (HA and FA) present in water matrixes on EE2 abatement in this system is explored, and the estrogenic activities of treated process is also evaluated by MCF-7 cell viability.