Extended Interfacial Charge Transference in CoFe 2 O 4 /WO 3 Nanocomposites for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline Antibiotics

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 29; no. 19
• Main Authors: Dong, Suiying, Dai, Jiafu, Yang, Ying, Zada, Amir, Qi, Kezhen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 25.09.2024
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Catalysis; Cobalt - chemistry; Ferric Compounds - chemistry; Nanocomposites - chemistry; Oxides - chemistry; Photochemical Processes; Photolysis; Tetracycline - chemistry; Tungsten - chemistry; Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry; X-Ray Diffraction; CoFe2O4/WO3; WO3; tetracycline; loading; photocatalytic degradation
• ISSN: 1420-3049

The large-scale utilization of antibiotics has opened a separate chapter of pollution with the generation of reactive drug-resistant bacteria. To deal with this, in this work, different mass ratios of CoFe O /WO nanocomposites were prepared following an in situ growth method using the precursors of WO and CoFe O . The structure, morphology, and optical properties of the nanocomposite photocatalysts were scrutinized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-Vis DRS), photoluminescence spectrum (PL), etc. The experimental data signified that the loading of CoFe O obviously changed the optical properties of WO . The photocatalytic performance of CoFe O /WO composites was investigated by considering tetracycline as a potential pollutant. The outcome of the analyzed data exposed that the CoFe O /WO composite with a mass ratio of 5% had the best degradation performance for tetracycline eradication under the solar light, and a degradation efficiency of 77% was achieved in 20 min. The monitored degradation efficiency of the optimized photocatalyst was 45% higher compared with the degradation efficiency of 32% for pure WO . Capturing experiments and tests revealed that hydroxyl radical (·OH) and hole (h ) were the primary eradicators of the target pollutant. This study demonstrates that a proper mass of CoFe O can significantly push WO for enhanced eradication of waterborne pollutants.