Integration of biochar into Ag3PO4/α-Fe2O3 heterojunction for enhanced reactive oxygen species generation towards organic pollutants removal

Yifan Qian; Jun Shi; Xianni Yang; Yangfan Yuan; Li Liu; Ganghua Zhou; Jianjian Yi; Xiaozhi Wang; Shengsen Wang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119131

Integration of biochar into Ag₃PO₄/α-Fe₂O₃ heterojunction for enhanced reactive oxygen species generation towards organic pollutants removal

Environ Pollut. 2022 Jun 15:303:119131. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119131. Epub 2022 Mar 17.

Authors

Yifan Qian¹, Jun Shi¹, Xianni Yang¹, Yangfan Yuan¹, Li Liu¹, Ganghua Zhou¹, Jianjian Yi¹, Xiaozhi Wang², Shengsen Wang³

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225127, PR China.
² College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225127, PR China; Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225127, Jiangsu, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization, PR China.
³ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225127, PR China; Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225127, Jiangsu, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization, PR China. Electronic address: wangss@yzu.edu.cn.

PMID: 35307498
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119131

Abstract

A biochar (BC) harbored Ag₃PO₄/α-Fe₂O₃ type-Ⅰ heterojunction (Ag-Fe-BC) was prepared by a hydrothermal-impregnation method to transfer active center of heterojunctions. The electrochemical and spectroscopic tests demonstrated that BC enhanced the catalytic performance of the heterojunction by enhancing photocurrent, reducing fluorescence intensity, and facilitating separation of electron-hole pairs. The photocatalytic activity showed the Ag-Fe-BC (5:1:3) could degrade Rhodamine B (20 mg/L) by up to 92.7%, which was 3.35 times higher than Ag₃PO₄/α-Fe₂O₃. Tetracycline and ciprofloxacin (20 mg/L) were degraded efficiently by 58.3% and 79.4% within 2 h, respectively. Electron paramagnetic resonance and scavenging experiments confirmed the major reactive oxygen species (ROS) consisted of singlet oxygen (¹O₂) and superoxide (·O₂^-). Excellent RhB adsorption and electrons capturing capacity of BC facilitated electron-hole pairs separation and ROS transferring to target organics followed by elevated degradation. Thus, a facile method was proposed to synthesize a highly efficient visible-light responsive photocatalyst for degradation of various organics in water.

Keywords: Ag(3)PO(4); Biochar; Degradation of dye and antibiotics; Photocatalysis; α-Fe(2)O(3).

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Charcoal
Environmental Pollutants*
Reactive Oxygen Species

Substances

Environmental Pollutants
Reactive Oxygen Species
biochar
Charcoal