In this study, a bipolar visible light responsive photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) was constructed by loading a Z-scheme g-C3N4/ carbon black/BiOBr and a Ti3C2/ MoS2 Schottky heterojunction on the carbon brush to prepare the photoanode and photocathode, respectively. It greatly improved the electron transfer and achieved efficient degradation of organic pollutants such as antibiotics and dyes simultaneously in two chambers of the PFC system. The Z-scheme g-C3N4/carbon black/BiOBr formed by adding highly conductive carbon black to g-C3N4/BiOBr not only effectively separates the photogenerated carriers, but also simultaneously retains the high reduction of the conduction band of g-C3N4 and the high oxidation of the valence band of BiOBr, improving the photocatalytic performance. The exceptional performance of Ti3C2/ MoS2 Schottky heterojunction originated from the superior electrical conductivity of Ti3C2 MXene, which facilitated the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. Meanwhile, the synergistic effect of the two photoelectrodes further improved the photocatalytic performance of the PFC system, with degradation rates of 90.9% and 99.9% for 50 mg L− 1 tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) and 50 mg L− 1 rhodamine-B (RhB), respectively, within 180 min. In addition, it was found that the PFC also exhibited excellent pollutant degradation rates under dark conditions (79.7%, TCH and 97.9%, RhB). This novel pollutant degradation system is expected to provide a new idea for efficient degradation of multiple pollutant simultaneously even in the dark.

Heteroatoms in situ-doped hierarchical porous hollow-activated carbons (HPHACs) have been prepared innovatively by pyrolyzation of setaria viridis combined with alkaline activation for the first time. The micro-morphology, pore structure, chemical compositions, and electrochemical properties are researched in detail. The obtained HPHACs are served as outstanding electrode materials in electrochemical energy storage ascribe to the particular hierarchical porous and hollow structure, and the precursor setaria viridis is advantage of eco-friendly as well as cost-effective. Electrochemical measurement results of the HPHACs electrodes exhibit not only high specific capacitance of 350 F g−1 at 0.2 A g−1, and impressive surface specific capacitance (Cs) of 49.9 μF cm−2, but also substantial rate capability of 68% retention (238 F g−1 at 10 A g−1) and good cycle stability with 99% retention over 5000 cycles at 5 A g−1 in 6 M KOH. Besides, the symmetrical supercapacitor device based on the HPHACs electrodes exhibits excellent energy density of 49.5 Wh kg−1 at power density of 175 W kg−1, but still maintains favorable energy density of 32.0 Wh kg−1 at current density of 1 A g−1 in 1-ethy-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ( EMIMBF4) ionic liquid electrolyte, and the excellent cycle stability behaviour shows the nearly 97% ratio capacitance retention of the initial capacitance after 10,000 cycles at current density of 2 A g−1. Overall, the results indicate that HPHACs derived from setaria viridis have appealing electrochemical performances thus are promising electrode materials for supercapacitor devices and large-scale applications.