Magnetic recyclable heterogeneous catalyst Fe3O4/g-C3N4 for tetracycline hydrochloride degradation via photo-Fenton process under visible light

Authors：Cui, Kang-Ping; Yang, Ting-Ting; Chen, Yi-Han; Weerasooriya, Rohan; Li, Guang-Hong; Zhou, Kai; Chen, Xing^*

Source：Environmental Technology, 2022, 43(21): 3341-3354.

DOI：10.1080/09593330.2021.1921052

• Fe3O4
• g-C3N4
• photo-Fenton system
• tetracycline
• magnetic recovery
• visible-light photocatalysis

Antibiotic pollution of water resources is a global problem, and the development of new treatments for destroying antibiotics in water is a priority research. We successfully manufactured recyclable magnetic Fe3O4/g-C3N4 through the electrostatic self-assembly method. Selecting tetracycline (TC) as the target pollutant, using Fe3O4/g-C3N4 and H2O2 developed a heterogeneous optical Fenton system to remove TC under visible light. Fe3O4/g-C3N4 was systematically characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR, XPS, DRS, and electrochemical methods. The removal efficiency of 7% Fe3O4/g-C3N4 at pH = 3, H2O2 = 5 mM, and catalyst dosage of 1.0 g/L can reach 99.8%. After magnetic separation, the Fe3O4/g-C3N4 photocatalyst can be recycled five times with minimal efficiency loss. The excellent degradation performance of the prepared catalyst may be attributed to the proper coupling interface between Fe3O4 and g-C3N4 which promotes the separation and transfer of photogenerated electrons. Photogenerated electrons can also accelerate the conversion of Fe3+ to Fe2+, thereby producing more OH. The new Fe3O4/g-C3N4 can be used as a raw material for advanced oxidation of water contaminated by refractory antibiotics.