Efficient mineralization of TBBPA via an integrated photocatalytic reduction/oxidation process mediated by MoS2/SnIn4S8 photocatalyst

Currently, Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) has been regarded as an emerging organic pollutant and efficient TBBPA elimination technology has been attracting increasing attention. In this work, a novel photocatalyst, MoS2/SnIn4S8, was synthesized through hydrothermal method by introducing few-layer MoS2 nanosheets and then employed to establish an integrated photocatalytic reduction/oxidation system for the remediation of TBBPA under visible light. The characterization results demonstrated that the few-layer MoS2 nanosheets were well combined with SnIn4S8 and significantly lowered the recombination rate of the photo-induced electron and holes, leading to outstanding photocatalytic performance of MoS2/SnIn4S8 composite. Besides, the MoS2/SnIn4S8 composite also exhibited excellent reusability (over 10 runs) and stability. The TBBPA degradation experiments showed that the integrated photocatalytic reduction/oxidation system was able to completely degrade TBBPA and mineralize its byproducts (60.2 +/- 2.9%). In the photocatalytic reduction, due to the cleavage of C-Br bonds by photo-induced electrons, TBBPA underwent stepwise debromination and finally transferred into BPA in 6 h. In the following photocatalytic oxidation, under the attack of reactive oxygen species (O-1(2), h(+), (OH)-O-center dot and O-center dot(2)-), BPA was first decomposed into aromatic products (such as phenol, benzoic acid, p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol and so on) via C-C bond cracking and hydroxylation, and then further oxidized into organic acids like maleic acid and muconic acid through ring-opening, and finally mineralized into CO2 and H2O. What was noteworthy was that the final effluent from the photocatalytic reduction/oxidation system showed no toxicity to the luminescent bacteria.

Automated summary

A novel photocatalyst MoS2/SnIn4S8 was synthesized and employed for the remediation of TBBPA under visible light, demonstrating outstanding photocatalytic performance and stability, successfully reducing TBBPA to non-toxic substances.