Fe₃O₄-Loaded g-C₃N₄/C-Layered Composite as a Ternary Photocatalyst for Tetracycline Degradation

Abstract

A ternary photocatalyst, Fe3O4-loaded g-C3N4/C-layered composite (g-C3N4/C/Fe3O4) was fabricated by a facile sonication and in situ precipitation technique. Carbon nanosheets were prepared using the remaining non-metallic components of waste printed circuit boards as carbon sources. In this hybrid structure, g-C3N4 was immobilized on the surfaces of carbon nanosheets to form a layered composite, and 10–15 nm Fe3O4 nanoparticles are uniformly deposited on the surface of the composite material. The photocatalytic performance of the catalyst was studied by degrading tetracycline (TC) under simulated sunlight. The results showed that the photoactivity of the g-C3N4/C/Fe3O4 composite to TC was significantly enhanced, and the degradation rate was 10.07 times higher than that of pure g-C3N4, which was attributed to Fe3O4 nanoparticles and carbon nanosheets. Carbon sheets with good conductivity are an excellent electron transporter, which promotes the separation of photogenerated carriers and the Fe3O4 nanoparticles can utilize electrons effectively as a center of oxidation–reduction. Moreover, a possible photocatalytic mechanism for the excellent photocatalytic performance was proposed.

Recent advances in removal of pharmaceutical pollutants in wastewater using metal oxides and carbonaceous materials as photocatalysts: a review

“…The degradation rate of tetracycline was found to be about 10 times higher in a g-C 3 N 4 /C/Fe 3 O 4 ternary nanocomposite compared to its individual or binary components under simulated solar light. 629 The degradation process followed a first-order kinetics model with a much higher apparent rate constant for g-C 3 N 4 /C/Fe 3 O 4 (0.0063 min −1 ) compared to g-C 3 N 4 (0.0029 min −1 ) or carbon (0.0003 min −1 ). The photoinduced h + and •O 2 − free radicals are suggested to act as the main active components in the degradation.…”

Facile fabrication of exfoliated g-C3N4/MWCNTs/Fe3O4 ternary composites with multi-component functional synergy for high-performance microwave absorption

“…37 The carbon and g-C 3 N 4 diffraction peaks are not observed in the CN/C-Fe 3 O 4 complex due to the low carbon and g-C 3 N 4 contents and the overshadowing of the sharper Fe 3 O 4 phases. 38 Another reason may be that the surface covered Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles interacted with CCN and MWCNTs, breaking the lattice and causing more defects. The low crystallinity of CCN and MWCNTs is consistent with the HRTEM images.…”

Doxycycline detection and degradation in aqueous media via simultaneous synthesis of Fe-N@carbon dots and Fe3O4-carbon dot hybrid nanoparticles: a one arrow two hawk approach

“…No new peak was observed in the Fe-N@CDs + doxycycline spectrum, thus showing that the quenching was dynamic in nature. 55 To further validate the results, the fluorescence behavior was investigated at different temperatures, and the quenching constant (K sv ) values were calculated using the Stern-Volmer eqn (2).…”

“…The versatile broad-spectrum antibiotics such as tetracyclines are gaining more and more interest in recent years due to their use in different areas such as human disease control, aquaculture, livestock, veterinary medicine, and enhancing animal growth. [1][2][3][4] The improved use of these antibiotics leads to increased concentration of drug residues in wastewater as 70-80% of the administered drug is either defecated or urinated, 2,5 so the effluents from animals or humans are presenting antibiotics to the environment to a greater extent. 6 Due to the higher concentration of pharmaceuticals in water systems, the arising issues are a substantial global environmental concern.…”