Photo-electrocatalytic degradation of tylosin by TiO2 nanotube modified photoelectrode: Synthesis, kinetics, and mechanism investigations

Abstract

Semiconductor photo-electrocatalytic technology is considered as an efficient and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment and energy production technology. TiO2 NTs is widely used in the field of photoelectricity catalysis because of its chemical stability and good recycling. In this paper, g-C3N4 and Ag nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of TiO2 NTs by solid-phase sublimation and electrodeposition method to prepare Ag/g-C3N4/TiO2 NTs composite photo-electrocatalytic materials. The Ag/g-C3N4/TiO2 NTs composites showed significant photo-electrocatalytic activity compared with the single component materials. The mechanism of enhanced catalytic activity is that the tight interface formed between Ag, g-C3N4 and TiO2 NTs, facilitating the photoinduced electron migration from g-C3N4 to TiO2 NTs and inhibiting the recombination of carrier pairs under the cooperative mechanism of photoelectric catalysis. The results of five cycle experiments show that Ag/g-C3N4 /TiO2 NTs has good stability. LC-MS and ECOSAR analysis results indicate that Ag/g-C3N4/TiO2 NTs photo-electrocatalytic system can be safely used for wastewater degradation treatment.