Controlled synthesis of BiVO4/SrTiO3 composite with enhanced sunlight-driven photofunctions for sulfamethoxazole removal.

The presence of antibiotics in surface waters is paid more and more attention, which is difficult to be removed by conventional treatment technology, and photocatalytic technology is considered to be a promising method for antibiotics pollutant removal. In the present work, a novel heterojunction photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by self-template method under hydrothermal condition. The photocatalytic activity of as-prepared samples was investigated by degradation of sulfamethoxazole in aqueous solution. The BiVO4/SrTiO3 composites showed superior photocatalytic efficiency under xenon lamp irradiation. The recycling tests proved that BiVO4/SrTiO3 composite was high stability and easily separated. The degradation efficiency of BiVO4/SrTiO3 composite was also greatly influenced by active species. It indicated that approximately 50% TOC reduction was achieved after 1h photocatalytic reaction. The intermediates were investigated by LC-MS analyses, which revealed that the bonds of CO, CS, CC, CN, isoxazole ring and benzene ring were broken by attacking of active species.