Facile Synthesis and High Activity of Novel Composite C/Fe-BiVO₄ Photocatalyst for Degradation of Cipfloxacin.

Abstract

A novel C/Fe-BiVO4 nanosheet composite photocatalyst combining the properties of both semiconductor and Fenton like catalyst was prepared via a two-step method involving Resin carbonization and hydrothermal process. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements and fluorescence spectrum technique. Structure analyses indicated that C/Fe-BiVO4 presented a nanosheet and macro-meso dual porosity structure. Photocatalytic degradation of cipfloxacin (CIP) (10 mg/L) was studied using C/Fe-BiVO4 under simulated solar light (SSL) irradiation in a cylindrical reactor. Three experimental parameters were chosen as independent variables: pH, C/Fe-BiVO4 concentration, and H2O2 concentration. The catalyst shows high catalytic activity in cipfloxacin photodegradation reaction with the cipfloxacin conversion efficiency higher than 95.61% at experimental conditions (catalyst dose, 0.75 g · L-1; H2O2 dose, 200 mg · L-1; solution pH, 5.0). The process obeyed the pseudo first-order kinetics by assuming a constant concentration of OH•. The as-prepared composite exhibited high efficiency in the photocatalytic decomposition of Cipfloxacin (CIP) by the assistance of H2O2. This method is promising due to its inexpensive starting materials and good photocatalyst for degradation of emerging micropollutants.