FeOx nanoclusters decorated TiO2 for boosting white LED driven photocatalytic Fenton-like norfloxacin degradation

The treatment of water pollution caused by antibiotic residues is essential for human health and the ecological environment. Herein, FeOx nanoclusters modified TiO2 nanofibers (FeOx-TNFs) heterostructure was fabricated for efficient photocatalytic Fenton-like removal of antibiotic norfloxacin (NOR) under white LED irradiation. Compared with the pristine TiO2, the optimized FeOx-TNFs heterostructure displays much-increased photocatalytic Fenton-like activity, with NOR removal by 92 % within 5 h by visible-light-driven photocatalytic Fenton-like reactions. The efficient NOR degradation activity should be mainly ascribed to the extended optical light absorption in visible light region and accelerated separation and migration of photogenerated carriers of TiO2 by the surface FeOx nanoclusters modification. This highly benefits the formation of reactive center dot OH radicals in Fenton-like reaction system and thus leads to great improvement in NOR removal. This study demonstrates an alternative approach of surface engineering to synthesize novel heterostructure for the effective photocatalytic remediation of wastewater containing antibiotic contaminants.

Automated summary

The treatment of water pollution caused by antibiotic residues is crucial for human health and ecological environment. A FeOx-TNFs heterostructure was synthesized through surface engineering, showing efficient visible light-driven antibiotic degradation.