High crystallinity of Self-assembled iron phthalocyanine enhanced photocatalytic properties for wastewater treatment

The high crystallinity of organic semiconductor photocatalytic materials has been demonstrated to enhance their photocatalytic activity. In this paper, iron phthalocyanine organic semiconductor photocatalysts (SA-FePc₅₀) with high crystallinity were obtained by using FePc as raw materials. The self-assembly and controllable preparation of SA-FePc₅₀ exhibited a substantial degradation of phenol under full spectrum, with the removal of 83.63% of phenol after 60 minutes. It also demonstrated a removal effect on E. coli, S. aureus and resistance genes. The high crystallinity and ordered structure of SA-FePc₅₀ enhanced the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. Thus, superoxide radical (·O₂⁻) and holes (h⁺) plays dominant roles in the phenol degradation and the removal of resistance genes. This study proposes a low-cost and efficient photocatalytic material, offering novel insights into addressing the issue of wastewater treatment.