Novel 2D/1D Bi2O2Se/tubular g-C3N4 Schottky junction photocatalyst promoting electron transfer for efficient degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride

Poor visible light (VSL) absorption capacity and severe photogenerated carrier recombination rate are the two major problems limiting the application of g-C3N4 (CN). In this work, a novel 2D/1D Bi2O2Se/tubular g-C3N4 (TCN) Schottky junction photocatalyst was prepared by combining 2D Bi2O2Se with TCN at room temperature. The degradation rate of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) catalyzed by 5% Bi2O2Se/TCN composite was 85.3% within 30 min under VSL illumination, and the degradation kinetic constant reached 0.0570 min−1, which was 9.6, 3.3, and 21.9 times higher than those of CN (0.0059 min−1), TCN (0.0173 min−1), and Bi2O2Se (0.0026 min−1), respectively. When 2D Bi2O2Se was combined with TCN as a cocatalyst, the Schottky junction was formed at the interface, which could efficiently transfer the photogenerated electrons in TCN to Bi2O2Se for enhancing photocarriers separation. In addition, Bi2O2Se enhanced the VSL light absorption performance of TCN. The main active species produced by Bi2O2Se/TCN under VSL illumination were h+ and •O2−. Based on the results of LC-MS, a new degradation path of TCH catalyzed by Bi2O2Se/TCN was proposed. Therefore, this work proposed a novel Bi2O2Se/TCN Schottky junction photocatalyst for highly efficient removal of TCH.