MOFs-derived Bi2O3@C with rich oxygen vacancies through rapid thermal annealing technology for photodegradation of tetracycline hydrochloride

Abstract

Heavyuseof antibiotics keeping in the environment seriously threatens ecological security and human health. Photodegradation through Bi-based photocatalysts is regarded as an advanced green technology in solving environmental problems. Nevertheless, its photocatalytic activity is limited by the fast recombination of photogenerated e− and h+ pairs and the lower photo quantum efficiency. Herein, MOFs-derived Bi2O3@C with rich oxygen vacancies (OVs) has been designed and synthesized via infrared rapid thermal annealing technology, which increases the recrystallization temperature and reduces the grain size. The technology keeps the shape of the MOFs and maintains a large surface area with a high degree of dispersion of active components. The increased effective reactive sites and rich OVs of Bi2O3@C have great photoelectrochemical properties, high utilization of light energy and excellent electron transfer exhibiting efficient photodegradation for tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). Therefore, the remove ratio of TCH reached 88% after irradiation of 5 W LED for 120 min. Moreover, the photodegradation mechanism is deeply explored through in-situ EPR and DRIFTS. 1O2 is the main reactive oxygen species to oxidize and mineralize the TCH. This MOFs-derived through rapid thermal annealing strategy would provide valuable insights to prepare inorganic nanomaterials with rich OVs for photocatalyst.