Preparation of TiO2/Fe-MOF n‒n heterojunction photocatalysts for visible-light degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride

Solmaz Feizpoor; Aziz Habibi-Yangjeh; Rafael Luque

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139101

Preparation of TiO₂/Fe-MOF n‒n heterojunction photocatalysts for visible-light degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride

Chemosphere. 2023 Sep:336:139101. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139101. Epub 2023 Jun 6.

Authors

Solmaz Feizpoor¹, Aziz Habibi-Yangjeh², Rafael Luque³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran; Departamento de Química Organica, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Cordoba, Edificio Marie Curie (C-3), Ctra. N-IV Km. 396, Cordoba, 14014, Spain.
² Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. Electronic address: ahabibi@uma.ac.ir.
³ Departamento de Química Organica, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Cordoba, Edificio Marie Curie (C-3), Ctra. N-IV Km. 396, Cordoba, 14014, Spain; Universidad ECOTEC, Km. 13.5 Samborondón, Samborondón, EC092302, Ecuador. Electronic address: q62alsor@uco.es.

PMID: 37290505
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139101

Abstract

Visible-light-assisted photocatalysis has been recognized as an effective solution to the degradation of various pollutants including antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, microplastics, and organic dyes. Herein, an n-n heterojunction TiO₂/Fe-MOF photocatalyst is reported, designed via solvothermal synthesis route. TiO₂/Fe-MOF photocatalyst was characterized by XPS, BET, EIS, EDS, DRS, PL, FTIR, XRD, TEM, SEM and HRTEM techniques. Inspired by XRD, FTIR, XPS, EDS, TEM, SEM, and HRTEM analyses, the successful synthesis of n-n heterojunction TiO₂/Fe-MOF photocatalysts was proved. The migration efficiency of the light-induced electron-hole pairs was confirmed by the PL and EIS tests. TiO₂/Fe-MOF exhibited a significant performance for tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) removal under visible light irradiation. TC removal efficiency for TiO₂/Fe-MOF (15%) nanocomposite reached 97% within 240 min, ca. 11 times higher than pure TiO₂. The photocatalytic enhancement of TiO₂/Fe-MOF could be attributed to the broadening the light response range, forming an n-n junction between Fe-MOF and TiO₂ components, suppressing charge recombination. Based on recycling experiments, TiO₂/Fe-MOF had a good potential to be used in consecutive TC degradation tests.

Keywords: Antibiotic pollutants; Photocatalytic performance; TiO(2)/Fe-MOF; Visible-light degradation.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Light
Plastics*
Tetracycline*

Substances

Tetracycline
titanium dioxide
Plastics