Facile synthesis of CaWO4 nanoparticles incorporated on porous carbons with improved photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline

The construction of an efficient and recyclable photocatalyst for the degradation of antibiotics is still a challenge. In this work, we successfully synthesized porous carbon-supported CaWO 4 nanoparticles (CaWO 4 @C) by solidifying sodium alginate (SA) mixed with Na 2 WO 4 by Ca 2+ ions and subsequent high-temperature carbonization . The introduction of porous carbon significantly reduced the size of CaWO 4 particles, increased the specific surface area for mass transport, and improved visible light utilization. The influence factors of photocatalytic activity were extensively explored through photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC). As a result, the optimized CaWO 4 @C exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance with the TC degradation rate of 94.56% after 60-min visible light irradiation. The TC photodegradation rate constant was calculated to be 0.051 min −1 , which was 30.19-time higher than the pristine CaWO 4 . Besides, the photocatalytic reaction mechanism for degradation of TC was revealed in terms of free radical trapping experiments and electron spin resonance (ESR) techniques.