Abstract
Given that the biological treatment of antibiotic wastewater can easily induce resistant bacteria, the photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics is considered as a better method for treating antibiotic wastewater. Therefore, the ability to remove Tylosin (TYL) and Tetracycline (TC) in aqueous solution using rare earth element Tb-doped g-C3N4 under simulated natural solar radiation was investigated. A series of rare earth Tb3+ doped mesoporous g-C3N4 were successfully prepared by nitric acid treatment and Tb(NO3)3·5H2O samples showed significantly higher degradation efficiency for TYL and TC than pure g-C3N4. Leaching toxicity experiments were carried out on the catalyst using chard seeds and demonstrated negligible toxicity of the leachate from the catalyst. The structure, elemental state, optical properties, morphology, and photogenerated carrier separation of the prepared xTCN catalysts were characterized by XRD, XPS, UV-Vis DRS, TEM, and PL. The results show that Tb doping enhanced the photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4 catalyst by narrowing the band gap while improving the light-trapping ability; The separation and transport rate of photogenerated carriers were significantly increased after Tb doping. Finally, a simple, efficient, and non-polluting Tb-doped carbon nitride photocatalyst is successfully developed in this paper.
Highlights
With the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical industry, the production and use of antibiotics for humans and animals is increasing (Gao 2018; Wang 2020)
The results showed that Tb doping enhanced the photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4 catalyst by narrowing the band gap while improving the light-trapping ability; The separation and transport rate of photogenerated carriers were significantly increased after Tb doping
Since no significant impurity peaks were observed in xTCN, the doping of Tb ions may not affect the crystalline phase of CN
Summary
With the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical industry, the production and use of antibiotics for humans and animals is increasing (Gao 2018; Wang 2020). Because of its high organic content,deep colour,the presence of a variety of inhibiting bacteria and the difficulty of biodegradation, the wastewater is one of the most widespread environmental pollution,which seriously threatens the ecological environment and human health. Tetracycline antibiotics (TC) used in large-scale livestock, poultry and aquaculture have characteristic of good antibacterial activity and inexpensiveness, making them one of the most widely used antibiotic classes (Briones 2016; Hu 2011). The structural specificity of antibiotics makes it difficult for residual TC to degrade naturally in the natural environment, and in addition antibiotics inhibit or disrupt microbial growth, so the rate of biodegradation of most TC is much lower than the rate of abiotic degradation. There is an urgent need to develop more efficient and greener technologies for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment in order to meet the higher requirements for water safety (Hu 2011; Karageorgou 2014; Wen 2018; Zhang 2015)
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.
