Visible-Light Driven Bismuth-Based Heterojunction Photocatalysts for Degradation of Antibiotics and Organic Dyes in Wastewater
Keywords:
Photocatalysis, bismuth-based materials, heterojunction, wastewater treatment, antibiotics degradation, visible light, advanced oxidation processesAbstract
Water pollution caused by persistent organic contaminants such as antibiotics and synthetic dyes has become a growing environmental concern, especially in industrial and pharmaceutical effluents. In this study, a series of bismuth-based photocatalysts including Bi₂MoO₆, BiFeO₃, BiOBr-based heterostructures, Ag/AgBr/BiOBr, and Bi₃O₄Cl/BiOCl were synthesized and evaluated for visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of selected pollutants.
The prepared materials were characterized using UV–DRS, PL spectroscopy, BET surface area analysis, XRD, SEM, TEM, and XPS to understand their structural, optical, and surface properties. Results indicated that heterojunction formation significantly improved visible-light absorption and charge separation efficiency. Among all samples, Ag/AgBr/BiOBr exhibited superior photocatalytic performance due to enhanced electron–hole separation and strong plasmonic effects.
Photocatalytic activity was evaluated using antibiotics (levofloxacin and ofloxacin) and organic dyes (methylene blue, rhodamine B, and methyl orange). The degradation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and showed strong dependence on catalyst dosage, pH, and initial pollutant concentration.
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