One-Pot Integration of S-Doped Biocl and Zno into Type-Ii Photocatalysts: Simultaneously Boosting Bulk and Surface Charge Separation for Enhanced Antibiotic Removal

Abstract

Ameliorating the charge separation behavior of photocatalysts is urgent and promising in current investigation of solar light-driven antibiotic removal. Herein, we introduce a facile hydrothermal approach for one-pot integration of sulfur-doped BiOCl (denoted as S-BiOCl) and ZnO into type-II heterojunction photocatalysts (denoted as ZnO/S-BiOCl). The as-prepared ZnO/S-BiOCl possesses an appealing visible light-driven photodegradation activity for antibiotic removal (including tetracycline (TC) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl)) compared with ZnO/BiOCl composites, individual S-BiOCl and ZnO, respectively. The above satisfactory photocatalytic activities of ZnO/S-BiOCl sample could be ascribed to the synergic effect of S dopant level in energy band structure of BiOCl and type-II heterojunctions between S-BiOCl and ZnO for simultaneously boosting charge separation in both bulk and surface. Moreover, the transfer pathway of charge carrier and possible photodegradation pathways of TC solution are also clarified. This work can afford an ingenious strategy in constructing high-performance BiOCl-based photocatalysts coupled heterojunction engineering with element doping engineering for antibiotic removal.

Keywords: Sulfur-doped BiOCl, ZnO, Type-II mechanism, Photocatalysts, Antibiotic removal