Bamboo-derived carbon supported plasmonic ag nanoparticles for visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline

Abstract

A large number of antibiotics, such as tetracycline (TC), etc., are released into the aqueous system, which poses a great threat to human health and ecological balance. Nowadays, the adsorption method is still a commonly used method to remove the persistent pollutants. However, adsorption materials, such as hierarchical carbon materials, are prone to adsorption saturation, which is uneconomical and requires frequent regeneration. Herein, to address this issue, novel bamboo-derived carbon composite catalysts consisting of N-doped oxygen vacancy-rich TiO₂, and Ag nanoparticles (NPs) (Ag-N-TiO₂/BC) were prepared and used for the photocatalytic degradation of TC under visible light irradiation. 1 %Ag-N-TiO₂/BC(1) was found to have an excellent photocatalytic degradation of TC, with 77 % degradation after 180 min of visible light irradiation, and the kinetic study showed that the reaction rate constant was 0.00686 min⁻¹. The physicochemical and electrochemical properties of the catalysts were systematically characterized by XRD, TEM, XPS, and EIS, etc. Importantly, it is revealed that the introduction of Ag NPs with SPR effect and the presence of oxygen vacancies of N-TiO₂ provide a long-term degradation activity of TC, thus avoiding the frequent regeneration of bamboo charcoal (BC). The reaction mechanism study showed that h⁺ plays a dominant role in the degradation of TC. After four cycles of tests, the degradation rate of TC by this composite catalyst could still reach 69 %, demonstrating its good stability and reusability in the cycling experiment. This study provides a new method for the high-value utilization of BC to fabricate the composite photocatalysts for the long-term and economic removal of antibiotics.