Degradation and removal of Ceftriaxone sodium in aquatic environment with Bi2WO6/g-C3N4 photocatalyst.

Modern chemistry aims to identify outstanding photocatalytic materials for antibiotic degradation given the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Herein, highly efficient heterojunction photocatalysts composed of Bi2WO6 nanoflowers (BW) and g-C3N4 nanosheets (CNNs) were successfully synthesized. The Bi2WO6/g-C3N4 (BW/CNNs) were presented for Ceftriaxone sodium degradation in the aquatic environment at low concentrations under visible light irradiation. The 40%-BW/CNNs showed excellent photocatalytic activity, and approximately 94.50% Ceftriaxone sodium was degraded under visible lightirradiation for 120 min. h+ and O2- played major roles compared with ·OH in the photocatalytic process. The degradation mechanism and the intermediate products were proposed to better understand the reaction process. Moreover, the as-prepared photocatalysts were highly stable in recycling photocatalytic experiments. Therefore, the photocatalysts prepared in the study showed outstanding photocatalytic activity and potential applications in inhibiting environmental pollution. In addition, this work provides a new insight for constructing other high-performance, low-cost photocatalysts for wastewater treatment.