Efficient under visible catalysts from electrospun flexible Ag2S/TiO2 composite fiber membrane

The issue of antibiotic residue and contamination has attracted significant attention. Most of the existing degradation methods are inefficient and costly. Photocatalytic technology is an up-and-coming method. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a photocatalyst widely used to degrade the residual antibiotics in water under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. However, its application efficiency under visible light is poor, owing to its wide bandgap. This paper reports the successful synthesis of Ag2S/TiO2 composite nanofiber membranes through electrospinning and hydrothermal processes, and adsorption and photocatalytic removal of tetracycline (TC) under visible light irradiation. Ag2S/TiO2 showed excellent photocatalytic property for TC degradation compared with Ag2S and TiO2, and the efficiency was up to 70.54%. It kept high photocatalytic performance after five cycles. The detailed mechanism of TC degradation by Ag2S/TiO2 was also proposed based on the radical trapping experiment and the analysis of degradation intermediates. Benefiting from the large surface area, effective photocatalysis under visible light irradiation, and excellent recyclability, Ag2S/TiO2 composite fiber membranes are promising in the treatment of antibiotic wastewater.

Automated summary

This study successfully synthesized Ag2S/TiO2 composite nanofiber membranes for the adsorption and photocatalytic removal of tetracycline (TC) under visible light irradiation. Ag2S/TiO2 showed excellent photocatalytic property for TC degradation with an efficiency of up to 70.54%, and maintained high photocatalytic performance after five cycles.