Preparation of a novel p-n BiOI/ Bi2WO6 photocatalyst and its application in the treatment of tetracycline.

The development of advanced photocatalysts is crucial for efficient photocatalytic degradation of the antibiotic tetracycline (TC). In this article, a series of BiOI/Bi₂WO₆ (I/W) with different ratios (9:1, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, 1:9) were synthesized by hydrothermal method and solvothermal method with BiOI as the primary material. XRD, SEM, FT-IR, XPS, and other analyses showed that the two monomers BiOI and Bi₂WO₆ were well combined together. The degradation experiment was considered that the 7:3I/W photocatalytic composite has the best degradation effect on TC, which can degrade 84.81% of TC within 120 min. At the same time, the 7:3I/W composite has good stability after five cycles. In the 7:3I/W composite, BiOI and Bi₂WO₆ were successfully recombined, and a p-n type heterojunction system was formed. This p-n type result not only greatly promoted the separation between e⁻ and h⁺, but also significantly improved its photocatalytic performances. This paper provided a novel photocatalytic material for treating TC in water, and also created theoretical support for the composite of bismuth-based photocatalytic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]