Synthesis plasmonic Bi/BiVO4 photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of tetracycline (TC)

Publication date: Available online 29 May 2019Source: Chinese Journal of Chemical EngineeringAuthor(s): Nianjun Kang, Dongbo Xu, Weidong ShiAbstractIn recent years, the excessive use of antibiotics has become a serious problem for human health. BiVO4 regarded as one of the most promising visible-light-driven photocatalyst was used to degrade the antibiotics. In this paper, we fabricated Bi/BiVO4 plasmonic photocatalysts which enhanced the photocatalytic activity of BiVO4 for degradation of tetracycline (TC) antibiotic. The Bi/BiVO4 photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the photocatalytic experiments results show that the 0.04-Bi/BiVO4 sample has the best photocatalytic activity for 2 times than the pure BiVO4 photocatalyst. The cycle experiments, after four repetitions of the experiments, showed the sample still maintained a high photocatalytic activity. Finally, the photocatalytic reaction mechanism was also studied by free radical capture experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Source: Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research