Facile synthesis of hierarchical Ti3C2/Bi12O17Br2 Schottky heterojunction with photothermal effect for solar–driven antibiotics photodegradation

Photocatalytic technology is considered to be an efficient and green approach for removing tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) to meet the demands of sustainable development. Here, a facile stirring process was employed to construct Ti₃C₂/Bi₁₂O₁₇Br₂ (termed as TBOB) Schottky heterojunction with a hierarchical structure, in which the Bi₁₂O₁₇Br₂ component was closely deposited on the surface of Ti₃C₂. The TC photodegradation performance was estimated for all catalysts under simulated solar light. Compared with Bi₁₂O₁₇Br₂, TBOB materials exhibited the superior photodegradation activity due to the synergistic effect between Ti₃C₂ and Bi₁₂O₁₇Br₂, which could increase light harvesting capacity derived from Ti₃C₂ loading, promote the charge carrier separation due to the formed Schottky heterojunction, and facilitate surface reaction kinetics owing to the photothermal effect. Besides, some crucial influencing factors on the photocatalytic performance over TBOB composites were separately studied in detail. The free radical capture experiment and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technique confirmed the predominant active species of •O₂⁻ and e⁻ for the TC photodegradation. Combined with experimental analysis and theoretical calculations, insight into the charge carrier transfer and photodegradation mechanisms were proposed. This study provides theoretical and experimental insights for the rational design of high-efficiency photothermal-assisted Ti₃C_2-based photocatalysts.