Boosted photocatalytic hydrogen production and photo-Fenton degradation of ciprofloxacin antibiotic over spherical LaMnO3 perovskites assembled boron nitride quantum dots

Abstract

In this study, boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs) were assembled on spherical LaMnO3 (LMO) perovskite catalysts to obtain enhanced charge transfer ability during photocatalytic reaction. The photoluminescence and electrochemical measurements indicated that hindered recombination rate and faster migration of photogenerated carriers were achieved after incorporation with BNQDs. The photocatalytic and photo-Fenton catalytic performances of LMO@BNQDs were explored towards degradation of ciprofloxacin antibiotic under visible light irradiation. In the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activated photo-Fenton system, the degradation performance of the pristine LMO was 47.1% while it was greatly increased to 86.5% after introduction of BNQDs. Based on scavenger tests, superoxide anion radicals were defined as the main active species and the degradation mechanism was proposed. The LMO@BNQDs catalyst also displayed excellent photocatalytic hydrogen production (147 μmol/g H2) which was higher than LMO sample (89 μmol/g). This study aimed to cast light on utilization of BNQDs in both photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and degradation processes.