In-situ decoration of Cu2(OH)3F on BiOBr with exposed (010) facets: Heterojunctions and photo-Fenton-like synergistic promote Cu+/Cu2+ circulation

Among various advanced oxidation processes , coupling photocatalysis and Fenton-like reactions can overcome the inherent drawbacks of the single technology , which is usually used to remove organic contaminants from wastewater. In this paper, Cu 2 (OH) 3 F/BiOBr composites with (010) facets exposed surface were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. The degradation efficiency of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) solution with Cu 2 (OH) 3 F/BiOBr composite in the photo-Fenton-like system reached 98.8 % within 60 min, and the degradation activity was 4.18 and 2.46 times considerably greater than those of photocatalytic and Fenton-like reactions, respectively. After 5 cycles, the degradation efficiency was still maintained at 89.8 %, demonstrating the exceptional stability of the catalyst. Moreover, based on the characterization of the catalyst, it was found that the high exposure of the crystal plane of the BiOBr material (010) not only speeds up the electron transport between Cu 2 (OH) 3 F and BiOBr and improves the rapid conversion of Cu 2+ ions, but also slows down the rapid electron-hole recombination. Then the free radicals during the reaction were captured, which found that ·OH, ·O 2 − and h + were the main active components in this synergistic degradation system. Finally, the mechanism of Cu 2 (OH) 3 F/BiOBr (010) heterojunction photo-Fenton-like synergistic degradation was proposed. This work can provide an effective pathway for the removal of antibiotics from wastewater.