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[Display omitted] • Activated carbon modified TiO 2 /Bi 2 O 3 adsorbent was prepared by a one-pot hydrothermal method. • Low temperature calcination (280 °C) led to high surface area (188.49 m2/g) of TiO 2 /Bi 2 O 3 /AC. • The integrated adsorbent/photocatalyst system promoted high removal efficiency of organic pollutants. • The efficient adsorption and photo-regeneration mechanism of tetracyclines were detailed. Considerable endeavors have focused on tightly combining adsorption with photocatalysis in designing composite materials for environmental pollution treatment. Recent advances in coupling titanium dioxide/bismuth trioxide (TiO 2 /Bi 2 O 3) with activated carbon (AC) show significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance but face critical limitations including low adsorption capacity and multi-step synthesis. In this work, we introduce a one-pot synthesis of activated carbon modified TiO 2 /Bi 2 O 3 composite materials (TiO 2 /Bi 2 O 3 /AC). Thanks to the integrated adsorbent/photocatalyst system, TiO 2 /Bi 2 O 3 /AC shows a drastically enhanced removal efficiency for sulfamethazine (>81%), far beyond the corresponding value of the reported AC/TiO 2 /Bi 2 O 3 adsorbent (<40%). Notably, the removal rates of other typical pollutants including tetracyclines, methyl orange, and rhodamine B are as high as >98%. Furthermore, TiO 2 /Bi 2 O 3 /AC obtains >80% of its adsorption rate for the fifth cycle after simple photo-regeneration without any other post-treatments. Kinetic analysis and photoelectric characterization are carried out to provide insight into adsorption mechanism. Therefore, this work demonstrates a considerable potential to design and construct other multifunctional adsorbents with advanced performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing a low-cost and efficient catalyst is of high importance toward the hydrogenation of nitroarenes. In this work, we design an Ag/Cu bimetallic catalyst by supporting Ag/Cu nanoparticles on the surface of hollow SiO 2 sphere (HS–Ag/Cu), in which SiO 2 acts as a support to disperse silver and copper nanoparticles due to its hydrophilic surface and chemical inertness, making it easier to decrease the aggregation of metal nanoparticles. Notably, the hollow/porous structure of SiO 2 considerably drives the diffusion of reactants/products by decreasing diffusion limitation, leading to an enhanced catalytic activity toward the hydrogenation of nitroarenes than monometallic catalyst. Furthermore, corresponding aniline is almost quantitatively produced, indicating a significantly practical potential. Demonstrating the efficient hydrogenation mechanism of nitroarenes for bimetallic HS-Ag/Cu catalyst in the presence of sodium borohydride, which can be ascribed to the synergistic effect of bimetal and hollow/porous support. [Display omitted] • Bimetallic Ag/Cu supported hollow SiO 2 sphere was prepared. • The HS-Ag/Cu exhibited an enhanced catalytic activity than monometallic counterparts. • Corresponding aniline is almost quantitatively produced toward the hydrogenation of nitroarene. • This work represents a new direction for constructing bimetallic catalysts by combining low-cost metal and porous support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]