Abstract
Amorphous CuO is considered as an excellent cocatalyst, owing to its large surface area and superior conductivity compared with its crystalline counterpart. The current work demonstrates a facile method to prepare amorphous CuO, which is grown on the surface of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and is then applied for the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride. The prepared CuO/g-C3N4 composite shows higher photocatalytic activities compared with bare g-C3N4. Efficient charge transfer between g-C3N4 and CuO is confirmed by the photocurrent response spectra and photoluminescence spectra. This work provides a facile approach to prepare low-cost composites for the photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics to safeguard the environment.
Highlights
The release of a great deal of different refractory antibiotics applied for the diseases of animal therapy, as well as for crop production into the natural water bodies by municipal and pharmaceutical industries, is considered to be a concerning issue over the past few years
The peak at 13.02° is due to the inter-planar staking units of the aromatic system in conjugation, and the peak at 27.3° is due to the inter-layer structural packing units (Qi et al, 2019d; Qi et al, 2020a)
The intensity of the inter-planar staking peak of g-C3N4 has been reduced slightly, which shows the uniform distribution of amorphous CuO on the surface of g-C3N4
Summary
The release of a great deal of different refractory antibiotics applied for the diseases of animal therapy, as well as for crop production into the natural water bodies by municipal and pharmaceutical industries, is considered to be a concerning issue over the past few years. The incomplete metabolism of antibiotics results in the excessive accumulation of these compounds in the ground and on the surface of water bodies to cause strong drug toxicity and reduces the efficiency of life-saving medicines. The band gap of amorphous CuO is slightly larger than that of the crystalline CuO, its excellent charge conductivity and superior surface area play an extremely positive role in the photocatalytic processes (Huang et al, 2015). A photocatalyst composed of amorphous CuO and g-C3N4 was fabricated utilizing a facile method, which involved heating melamine in a muffle furnace and growing different mass percent ratios of amorphous CuO. The improved photocatalytic performance of CuO/g-C3N4 was attributed to the extended visible light absorption and enhanced charge separation after the growth of amorphous CuO as cocatalysts on the surface of g-C3N4. The photoelectrochemical study was conducted with an IVIUM V13806 electrochemical workstation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
