Rational construction of tetraphenylporphyrin/bismuth oxybromide nanocomposite with accelerated interfacial charge transfer for promoted visible-light-driven degradation of antibiotics

Photocatalysis plays a significant role in the field of environment purification and energy conversion. In this work, a series of visible-light-responsive tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP)/BiOBr nanocomposite was prepared via a facile solvothermal method, and their photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of tetracycline (TC) and ciprofloxacin was evaluated and compared. Spectroscopic analysis demonstrates that TPP/BiOBr nanocomposite displays higher carrier mobility, results in generating numerous superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical, and holes under visible-light photoirradiation. And the degradation rate constant of TC for 1 wt% TPP/BiOBr is about 0.013 min(-1), 2.1 times higher than that of single BiOBr. The introduction of TPP into BiOBr is found to act as a key role in determining photocatalytic efficiency. Based on the favorable photoelectrochemical properties and photocatalytic performance, porphyrin modified semiconductor catalyst can be employed as a high-performance photocatalyst in the treatment of antibiotic wastewater.