Fe-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 heterojunction for efficient tetracycline degradation under low-intensity UV irradiation

Information from the abstract

Tetracycline (TC) contamination remains difficult to control because conventional wastewater treatment processes often do not fully remove persistent antibiotic residues. Although Fe doping and BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunction formation have been reported previously, the composition-dependent behavior of Fe-doped BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 photocatalysts under low-intensity UVC irradiation remains insufficiently clarified. This study developed 3% Fe-doped BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 (FeBVO: CN) heterojunction photocatalysts with different FeBVO: CN mass ratios and evaluated their TC degradation performance, operating conditions, reactive-species involvement, reusability, and preliminary synthesis cost. The composites were synthesized by hydrothermal treatment followed by calcination and characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Among the prepared samples, FeBVO/CN-2:1 showed the highest photocatalytic activity, achieving 83.6% TC degradation within 120 min at 5 mg L −1 TC, 200 mg L − 1 catalyst loading, and pH 10. The degradation followed pseudo-first-order (PFO) kinetics with a rate constant of 0.01509 min − 1 . Scavenger experiments suggested that •O 2 − -related pathways exerted the strongest influence, while •OH and h + also contributed to TC transformation. The catalyst retained 77.1% degradation efficiency after three cycles, indicating preliminary reusability under the tested conditions. This work advances the field by linking FeBVO: CN composition with structural features, optical response, photocatalytic activity, reactive-species behavior, and practical operating constraints under low-intensity UVC irradiation. Mulliken-estimated band-edge positions, together with the scavenger results, supported a proposed Z-scheme-like charge-transfer pathway as the more thermodynamically consistent interpretation of the observed reactive-species behaviour.

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Related topics: Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques · Advanced oxidation water treatment · TiO2 Photocatalysis and Solar Cells