Enhanced photocatalytic performance of layered carbon microsphere/BiOCl composite with oxygen vacancies

Abstract

In this work, carbon microsphere/BiOCl heterojunction with oxygen vacancy was synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The structure, morphology and physicochemical properties have been investigated and discussed through a series of characterizations. The photocatalytic performance of the carbon microsphere/BiOCl composite for tetracycline degradation was twice as high as that of pristine BiOCl. The increased photocatalytic activity was attributed to oxygen vacancies and suitable charge transfer pathways. In addition, three-dimension excitation emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy and Fukui indices were used to speculate the degradation products and pathways of tetracycline. The organic norfloxacin was found to have an antagonistic effect and the inorganic Cr (VI) had a synergistic effect on tetracycline degradation. Furthermore, the possible photocatalytic mechanism was explored through density functional theory and energy band structure. Therefore, this composite has great potential for the photocatalytic removal of tetracycline from water.