Novel CoS2/MoS2@Zeolite with excellent adsorption and photocatalytic performance for tetracycline removal in simulated wastewater

Due to the mass production and the use of antibiotic drugs, the pollution of antibiotics in the environment is aggravated. Molybdenum sulfide (MoS2), a kind of photocatalyst, can effectively degrade organics from the water environment. However, agglomeration and low catalytic activity sites are crucial to impeding the photocatalytic efficiency of MoS2 nanoparticles. The aim of this study is to develop a MoS2 composite with a higher hydrophily and excellent photocatalytic. In this study, a series of CoS2/MoS2@Zeolite photocatalysts (CoS2/MoS2@Z) with high hydrophily, adsorption capacity and photocatalytic were successfully synthesized by the combination of ultrasonic and facile hydrothermal method to solve these problems. The structure characteristics, photocatalytic efficiency, and photocatalytic degradation mechanism were systematically investigated. It was found that zeolite significantly improved the tetracycline (TC) adsorption by CoS2/MoS2@Z-50, which was conducive to the contact between TC and photocatalyst, and could further improve photocatalytic efficiency. The photocatalytic experiment results showed that CoS2/MoS2@Z-50 had the best removal effect on TC (96.71%) compared with other samples. The increase of photocatalytic activity was mainly attributed to the high active sites, separation and transfer of electrons and holes in heterojunction. Besides, the CoS2/MoS2@Z-50 maintained a good stability after five cycles of TC photodegradation. A possible photocatalytic mechanism of CoS2/MoS2@Z-50 was proposed. Synthesis of zeolite-based CoS2/MoS2 heterojunction photocatalyst paves the way for TC photodegradation, which may become an efficient, environmentally friendly and a promising photocatalyst in the field of pharmaceutical wastewater treatment.