Building P-doped MoS2/g-C3N4 layered heterojunction with a dual-internal electric field for efficient photocatalytic sterilization

Abstract The construction of internal electric field (IEF) is usually considered an effective strategy to enhance photocatalytic efficiency because of its significant role in photo-induced carrier separation. Herein, we report a novel method to synthesize phosphorus-doped (P-doped) MoS2/g-C3N4 layer-by-layer composite, which could expose more active sites and generate a strong interaction by forming Mo-N bonds for photocatalytic sterilization. It is experimentally and theoretically confirmed that P-doped MoS2/g-C3N4 heterojunctions not only generate a dual-IEF to drive charge migration, but also facilitate spatially separated redox sites to further promote the separation of photo-induced carrier. The optimized P-doped MoS2/g-C3N4 layered heterojunction exhibits high photocatalytic sterilization efficiency (99.99%) towards E. coli under visible-light irradiation, which is remarkably higher compared with those of P-doped g-C3N4 (44.73%) and P-doped MoS2 (61.69%), respectively. This research will offer a novel method of designing and synthesizing layered composite photocatalyst with a dual-IEF for effective photocatalytic sterilization.