The Establishment of an Ultra-Low Energy Consumption Air/Carbon Quantum Dots/Cucofe-300 Catalytic System for the Efficient Degradation of Tetracycline Under Mild Conditions: Synergistic Effects of Interfacial Electronic Channel and Oxygen Vacancies

Abstract

The development of highly active catalytic materials holds significant importance for reducing energy consumption and initiating reactions under mild conditions. This work aims to improve the catalytic performance via interface modification strategy, loading carbon quantum dots (CQDs) onto oxygen vacancy (OVs)-rich calcined CuCoFe-LDH (CuCoFe-300). The interfacial electronic channels are constructed between CQDs and CuCoFe-300 with C-O-H-O bridge-bonded, providing a specific pathway for electron transfer, enhancing the electron aggregation of OVs, and improving their electron utilization. The novel CQDs/CuCoFe-300 catalyst can initiate catalytic reactions without the need for oxidants or energy input, relying on its own lattice defect energy, achieving excellent tetracycline degradation performance (approximately 90%) under mild conditions. Compared with most advanced oxidation technologies, the energy consumption of the reaction system in this study is reduced by 50-100 times. Meanwhile, CQDs demonstrate excellent electron donor capabilities. Under the synergistic effect of interface electronic channels and OVs, the 1O2 generation in air/CQDs/CuCoFe-300 system is increased by 3.42 times compared to air/CuCoFe-300 system, and it exhibits excellent tolerance in high-salt environments. The development of highly active catalysts holds important scientific significance and practical value in degrading antibiotic wastewater efficiently and mildly, aiming to reduce energy consumption.

Keywords: Advanced oxidation technology, 1O2 quantification, Electron transport, Interfacial channel, low energy consumption