Deposition of CaFe2O4 and LaFeO3 perovskites on polyurethane filter: A new photocatalytic support for flowthrough degradation of tetracycline antibiotic

Abstract

The immobilization of powder catalysts on substrates has been the subject of increasing interest in the field of photocatalysis. For the first time, highly efficient LaFeO3 and CaFe2O4 perovskites were hydrothermally deposited on polyurethane filters (LFO/PU, CFO/PU). Furthermore, the photo-Fenton catalytic decomposition of tetracycline antibiotic by the new catalyst filters was explored under visible light irradiation. The structural, optical, and morphological characteristics of the photo-active filters were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–visible diffusion spectra (UV–vis DRS), X-Ray fluorescence (XRF), and thermogravimetric/dynamic thermal analyses (TG-DTG). The decomposition studies were conducted in both batch and micro-flow reactor systems. The effects of solution pH, reactive species, and water type on the reaction mechanism were examined. It was found that the photo-Fenton degradation of tetracycline improved when the perovskite proportions on the filter were increased; the removal rates reached 94% and 80% forLFO/PU and CFO/PU, respectively. The high degradation performance obtained in lake (∼71%) and seawater (∼76%) demonstrated the great potential of photo-active catalyst filters, and their excellent stability was confirmed by reusability tests. In the continuous flow system, the photocatalytic filters kept the degradation rate stable at 83% and 44% after 7 h of examination forLFO/PU and CFO/PU, respectively. These results suggest that the as-prepared catalytic filters may be suitable for industrial photocatalytic applications.