Enhanced tetracycline degradation with TiO2/natural pyrite S-scheme photocatalyst

Abstract

In this study, TiO2 nanoparticles were employed as a photocatalyst for the degradation of tetracycline (TC) under visible light irradiation. The TiO2 nanoparticles were decorated on natural pyrite (TiO2/NP) and characterized using XRD, FTIR, and SEM–EDX methods. This study evaluated the impacts of various operational parameters such as pH, catalyst dosage, initial TC concentration, and light intensity on TC removal. The findings revealed that under optimal conditions (pH 7, catalyst: 2 g/L, TC: 30 mg/L, and light intensity: 60 mW/cm2), 100% of TC and 84% of TOC were removed within 180 min. The kinetics of TC elimination followed a first-order model. The dominant oxidation species involved in the photocatalytic elimination of TC was found to be ·OH radicals in the TiO2/NP system. The reuse experiments showed the high capability of the catalyst after four consecutive cycles. This study confirmed that the TiO2/NP system has high performance in photocatalytic TC removal under optimized experimental conditions.

Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline by Magnetically Separable g-C3N4-Doped Magnetite@Titanium Dioxide Heterostructured Photocatalyst

“…Unfortunately, as an n-type semiconductor, TiO 2 can only absorb the ultraviolet region in the solar spectrum, and its photoinduced electron/hole pair recombination rate is high, which significantly restricts its practical application [14]. To enhance TiO 2 's catalytic activity for environmental pollution, various strategies have been proposed to extend its light absorption region and reduce the electron/hole pair recombination, including metal (such as Al) or non-metal ion (such as Cl and F) doping, surface modification, coupling with other semiconductor materials, and regulating preparation conditions [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. These strategies can not only enhance the photocatalytic performance of TiO 2 materials but also expand their applications in biomedicine, plastics, rubber, and other fields.…”