Addressing the degradation of persistent organic pollutants like bisphenol A (BPA) and rhodamine B (RhB) with a photocatalyst that is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly is a notable challenge. This research presents the synthesis of an optimized g-C₃N₄/Bi₄O₅Br₂ composite featuring a Z-scheme heterojunction structure. The precise band alignment of this composite significantly enhances the separation of photogenerated charges and the production of dominant reactive species. The composite demonstrated exceptional photocatalytic performance, with BPA degradation efficiency nearing 98% and RhB achieving complete degradation within 80 and 35 min under visible light, respectively. These results are approximately 1.3 times greater than the individual performance of CN and BOB, surpassing recent literature benchmarks. Through EPR and free radical capture experiments, the role of h⁺ and ·O₂⁻ as the primary active free radicals in the degradation process have been confirmed. First-principles calculations validated the experimental results, indicating that the Z-type heterojunction is instrumental in generating active species, thus improving degradation efficiency. This study offers a promising strategy for the design of photocatalysts targeting emerging organic pollutants.

Water electrolysis for energy-efficient H₂ production coupled with hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR) is prevailing, while the sluggish electrocatalysts are strongly hindering its scalable application. Herein, we schemed a novel porous Ce-doped Ni₃N nanosheet arrays grown on nickel foam (Ce-Ni₃N/NF) as a remarkable bifunctional catalyst for both hydrogen evolution reaction and HzOR. Significantly, the overall hydrazine splitting system can achieve low cell voltages of 0.156 and 0.671 V at 10 and 400 mA·cm⁻², and the system is remarkably stable to operate over 100 h continuous test at the high-current-density of 400 mA·cm⁻². Various characterizations prove that the porous nanosheet arrays expose more active sites, and more excellent diffusion kinetics and lower charge-transfer resistance, therefore boosting catalytic performance. Furthermore, density functional theory calculation reveals that the incorporation of Ce can effectively optimize the free energy of hydrogen adsorption and promote intrinsic catalytic activity of Ni₃N.