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[Display omitted] • A –OH and −C N grafted g-C 3 N 4 is first used as a photocatalytic disinfectant. • The −C N can act as oxygen adsorptioncenters to accelerate the surface reaction. • The hydrophilic interface favors electron transfer and surface catalytic reaction. • The HAC-CN shows an excellent performance in inactivating E. coli and S. aureus. Exploration of cost-effective and high-performing photocatalysts for bacteria disinfection remains a difficult task. Herein, the hydroxyl (–OH) and cyano groups (–C N) co-modulated graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4) was first employed as a photocatalytic disinfectant. Systematic characterizations have proved that the abundant –OH and –C N can not only obtain favorable hydrophilicity but also promote the transfer of photogenerated charge carriers. Meanwhile, the –C N can serve as the oxygen adsorption center and the photogenerated electrons accumulation center to accelerate the surface reaction, thus realizing the rapid generation of reactive oxygen species. As expected, the optimal sample can inactivate 6.76-log of Escherichia coli (E. coli) within 60 min and 7.14-log of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) within 90 min under visible light, which shows the most superior disinfection rate of S. aureus and the relatively excellent inactivation ability of E. coli , as compared to other recently reported monolithic g-C 3 N 4 -based photocatalysts. This work provides new insights into maximizing the dynamic behavior of photogenerated charge carriers and constructing novel photocatalytic disinfectants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]