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

In 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 photocatalysts 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 (it) 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 experiment 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. (C) 2019 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.