Highly efficient AgVO3/WO3 photocatalyst n-n heterojunction toward visible-light induced degradation antibiotic

In the present work, WO3 NPs were fabricated using a facile hydrothermal method assisted by polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) for the first time, and AgVO3 with different weight percentages (3%, 6%, 9% and 12%) was uniformly distributed on the surface of mesoporous WO3 by impregnation - calcination processes to construct n-n heterojunction AgVO3/WO3 nanocomposites. The obtained AgVO3/WO3 nanocomposites were utilized for the effective Ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation during visible illumination. The XRD and TEM investigations verified the formation of AgVO3 and WO3 in a monoclinic crystal structure with a particle size of 40 nm. XPS and TEM measurements evidenced the existence of Ago and Ag+ in the heterostructure AgVO3/WO3 system. 9%AgVO3/WO3 nanocomposite exhibited larger photocatalytic performance, i.e., 100% with 120 min of illumination, than the other nanocomposite photocatalysts. The apparent rate constant of 9% AgVO3/WO3 nanocomposite (0.0162 min−1) was enhanced 18 times greater than the WO3 NPs (0.0009 min−1). The efficient photocatalytic performance could correlate with the close contact between AgVO3 and WO3 NPs, which enhanced the visible light absorption and efficacious separation of the carriers during degradation reactions. The AgVO3/WO3 nanocomposite obeyed the S-scheme mechanism for charge transfer to achieve promising redox abilities in both AgVO3 and WO3. The optimized 9% AgVO3/WO3 photocatalyst showed high reusability and photostability for five consecutive runs without loss its efficiency. This study provides a new mechanism for addressing highly effective nanocomposites with excellent photocatalytic ability that exhibit practical applications in the environmental remediation of antibiotics.