Solar-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical pollutants utilizing 2D g-C3N4/BiOCl composite

Pharmaceuticals, which have been praised for protecting countless lives, have become a new category of envi-ronmental pollutants in recent decades as most of these pharmaceutical compounds are discovered in water bodies in concentrations ranging from ng/L to mg/L. Recently, metal-free g-C3N4 (GCN)-based composites have received considerable attention for the degradation of pharmaceutical compounds. In this study, GCN/BiOCl composite was prepared using a simple ultrasonication-assisted stirring method and characterized using various analytical and spectroscopic techniques including XRD, FTIR, PL, Elemental mapping, UV-DRS, FESEM, HRTEM, and TGA. The as-prepared composite was utilized to degrade levofloxacin (LVX) under solar light irradiation and showed excellent stability for the degradation of LVX. Furthermore, the universality of the GCN/BiOCl composite was investigated by degrading diverse pharmaceuticals such as ofloxacin (OFX), norfloxacin (NOX), ciproflox-acin (COX), and ketorolac tromethamine (KTC) in an aqueous phase. Therefore, this work provides an effective method to degrade pharmaceutical contaminants simultaneously in water using GCN/BiOCl composite.

Automated summary

In recent decades, pharmaceuticals have become a new category of environmental pollutants due to their presence in water bodies. Metal-free g-C3N4 (GCN)-based composites have gained significant attention for their ability to degrade pharmaceutical compounds. This study prepared and characterized a GCN/BiOCl composite, which showed excellent stability in degrading levofloxacin (LVX) under solar light irradiation. The composite was also effective in degrading other pharmaceuticals in an aqueous phase. Therefore, this work presents an effective method for the simultaneous degradation of pharmaceutical contaminants in water using the GCN/BiOCl composite.