Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline contaminated wastewater over Bi2S3/BiWO6/rGO ternary nanocomposite under visible light irradiation

The presence of contaminated drugs in waste water is an important problem for human health. In this present investigation, nowadays, more peoples widely use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like tetracycline (TC), which are hazardous pollutants due to their ecotoxicity. The elimination of these drugs from waste water is a considerable problem. Herein, a sequence of Bi2S3/BiWO6/rGO ternary nanocomposites was synthesized using a simple hydrothermal strategy and assessed through structural, functional, optical, morphology, elemental and surface analysis. Additionally, the photocatalytic degradation behavior of Bi2S3/BiWO6/rGO ternary nanocomposites in the degradation of TC drug was examined under visible light irradiation, and its possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism was also discussed in detail. Bi2S3/BiWO6/rGO nanocomposites demonstrates the superior photocatalytic activity compared to Bi2S3/BiWO6, Bi2S3, BiWO6 and rGO photocatalysts. During 120 min, the ternary Bi2S3/BiWO6/rGO nanocomposites degradation of TC drug efficiency are 86 %. Furthermore, the role of the main active species (ROS) in the TC drug was identified adding of different scavengers and photocatalytic degradation mechanism pathway, stability and reusability were also proposed in this paper. Therefore, we present a rational design concept for highly efficient photocatalysts used in environmental remediation.