BiVO4 photoanode modified with FeOOH cocatalyst for visible-light-driven photoelectrocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants

Photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) could effectively and gently treat wastewater. Nonetheless, catalysts face the pronounced tendency of sluggish photogenerated carrier transfer and carrier recombination. In this paper, we herein fabricate FeOOH/BiVO4 photoanode through the incorporation of a cocatalyst FeOOH onto the BiVO4 surface. This modified photoanode demonstrated improved performance when coupled with peroxomonosulfate (PMS) for the purpose of oxidizing tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) within the PEC system. In the presence of 0.3 mM PMS, the degradation efficiency of TCH increased from 65% to 88% within 60 min. The effects of PMS concentration, applied voltage and TCH concentration on the decomposition were studied in detail. Through free radical scavenging experiments, it was found that SO4•-, h+ and •OH played an important role in TCH degradation. In addition, the FeOOH/BiVO4 with PMS activation in the PEC system also could be capable of dealing with some more organic pollutants (antibiotics and dyes) and achieving good degradation effect. More importantly, TCH degradation rate by FeOOH/BiVO4 photoanode is still over 80% after five cycles of reuse. This work provides a promising approach for the synthesis of novel photoanodes in the PEC systems with excellent PEC properties in removing environmental pollutants.