Ternary Ni2P/Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4 composite with Z-scheme electron transfer path for enhanced removal broad-spectrum antibiotics by the synergistic effect of adsorption and photocatalysis

Constructing the stable, low-cost, efficient, and highly adaptable visible light-driven photocatalyst to implement the synergistic effect of photocatalysis and adsorption has been excavated a promising strategy to deal with antibiotic pollution in water bodies. Herein, a novel 3D ternary Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst Ni₂P/Bi₂MoO₆/g-C₃N₄ (Ni₂P/BMO/CN) was fabricated by a simple solvothermal method in which the broad spectrum antibiotics (mainly tetracyclines and supplemented by quinolones) were used as target pollution sources to evaluate its adsorption and photocatalytic performance. Notably, the Z-scheme composite significantly exhibit the enhancement for degradation efficiency of tetracycline and other antibiotic by using Ni₂P nanoparticles as electron conductor. Active species capture experiment and electron spin resonance (ESR) technology reveal the mechanism of Z-scheme Ni₂P/BMO/CN photocatalytic reaction in detail. In addition, based on the identification of intermediates by liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy (LC–MS), the possible photocatalytic degradation pathways of TC were proposed.