Construction of ternary CuO/CuFe2 O4 /g-C3 N4 composite and its enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride with persulfate under simulated sunlight

In this study, a graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) based ternary catalyst CuO/CuFe 2 O 4 /gC 3 N 4 (CCCN) is successfully prepared thorough calcination method. After confirming the structure and composition of CCCN, the as-synthesized composites are utilized to activate persulfate (PS) for the degradation of organic contaminant. While using tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) as pollutant surrogate, the effects of initial pH, PS and catalyst concentration on the degradation rate are systematically studied. Under the optimized reaction condition, CCCN/PS is able to give 99% degradation extent and 74% chemical oxygen demand removal in assistance of simulated solar light, both of which are apparently greater than that of either CuO/CuFe 2 O 4 and pristine g-C 3 N 4 . The great improvement in degradation can be assignable to the effective separation of photoinduced carriers thanks to the integration between CuO/CuFe 2 O 4 and g-C 3 N 4 , as well as the increased reaction sites given by the g-C 3 N 4 substrate. Moreover, the scavenging trials imply that the major oxidative matters involved in the decomposition are hydroxyl radicals ( center dot OH), superoxide radicals ( center dot O 2 -) and photo-induced holes (h + ). (c) 2021 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V.