Enhanced photodegradation of doxycycline (DOX) in the sustainable NiFe2O4/MWCNTs/BiOI system under UV light irradiation

In this study, a magnetic NiFe2O4/MWCNTs/BiOI composite were fabricated and applied for enhanced and sustainable photocatalytic degradation of doxycycline (DOX) under UV light irradiation. The as-synthesized material was characterized by a series of techniques and its photocatalytic property was assessed via a couple of batch tests. With the pH at 3.0 and NiFe2O4/MWCNTs/BiOI loading of 1.5 g L-1, the DOX degradation (at 45 mg L-1) efficiency could achieve 92.18% with the reaction rate constant k of 0.0072 min(-1). The high mineralization of DOX suggests the strong oxidation of both the parent pollutant and the intermediary products in the ternary catalyst system. DRS spectra indicated that compared with BiOI, the introduction of NiFe2O4 and MWCNTs reduces the band gap energy of the NiFe2O4/MWCNTs/BiOI. The quenching test illustrates that h+, (OH)-O-center dot and O-center dot(2)- all functioned in the developed photocatalytic system, where O-center dot(2)- and h(+) play the dominant roles in DOX degradation. The more efficient electron-h(+) separation and more oxidizing species induced by UV light resulted in the significant improvement of DOX abatement in the developed coupling system compared with that on either BiOI or NiFe2O4/MWCNTs. The magnetic property of NiFe2O4/MWCNTs/BiOI enables its easy separation of the solid catalyst from the reaction solution and the sustainable application in the photocatalysis. Based on the intermediates of DOX decomposition identified by UPLC-MS, the possible degradation routes were proposed accordingly.

Automated summary

By fabricating a magnetic NiFe2O4/MWCNTs/BiOI composite, efficient and sustainable photocatalytic degradation of DOX under UV light irradiation was achieved, showing effective treatment of DOX and enabling sustainable application of the catalytic reaction.