Porous Juncus effusus fiber-supported W-Bi2S3 photocatalyst for purifying antibiotic wastewater to cultivate crop

Abstract

The excessive use of antibiotics and subsequent release into the aquatic environment causes deleterious effects on organisms. Using easily separable catalysts to remove antibiotics from aquatic environments is an effective strategy to release the burden of the aquatic ecosystem. Herein, as the natural porous cellulose fiber, Juncus effusus (JE) exhibits distinctive designability on the functional materials. The JE-based W-doped Bi₂S₃ photocatalysts (W-Bi₂S₃-JE) were obtained by in-situ coating on the surface of JE fibers to improve the photodegradation performance of tetracycline (TC) antibiotic pollutants. Owing to the natural porous net-working structure of JE fiber, the aggregation of particles is reduced, promoting adsorption and photocatalysis. Under the condition of pH = 3.0 and mass of photocatalyst is 100 mg, the photodegradation efficiency is 98 % under irradiation for 180 min and the photodegradation efficiency could maintain 78 % after five cycles. Finally, the cultivation of crops was conducted to investigate the purification property of the solution after photocatalytic degradation. Compared with the solution before photodegradation, mung bean seeds can take root and germinate well irrigated by the solution after photodegradation and the growth is as strong as that of agricultural irrigation water. The W-Bi₂S₃-JE photocatalyst provides an attractive approach to restore the aquatic ecosystem polluted by antibiotics of TC, improving the application potential in environmental remediation.