Visible-light-driven decomposition of antibiotic oxytetracycline and disinfection of Escherichia coli using magnetically recyclable lanthanum-nitrogen co-doped titania/calcium ferrite/diatomite heterojunction material

Enhancement of photocatalytic activities of ZnFe2O4 composite by incorporating halloysite nanotubes for effective elimination of aqueous organic pollutants

ZnFe₂O₄ is a highly desirable catalyst due to its exceptional photo-response in the visible light region, but various drawbacks, such as rapid recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs and severe particle agglomeration, make it difficult to use. In this study, a co-precipitation approach was used to create ZnFe₂O₄/HNT (ZF/HNTs) composites. XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, BET, and DRS were used to characterize the ZF/HNT composites. Furthermore, the effectiveness of removing crystal violet under simulated visible light irradiation was used to assess photocatalytic activity. The results showed that ZnFe₂O₄ with typical diameters of around 20 nm was significantly distributed on halloysite nanotubes. Because of the synergistic impact of the improved agglomeration phenomena of ZnFe₂O₄ and the decreased recombination rate of photo-generated electrons and holes, all of the composites had superior photocatalytic performance than pure ZnFe₂O₄. The ZF/HNTs-11 composite exhibited the highest removal performance, removing 96.7% of the sample in less than 150 min. In addition, the composite was very stable and reusable. Consequently, ZF/HNTs-11 composite is an effective catalyst for treating pollutants found in wastewater.

A novel Sn2Nb2O7/defective carbon nitride heterojunction photocatalyst: preparation and application for photocatalytic oxytetracycline removal

A traditional type-II Sn2Nb2O7/defective carbon nitride (HCN) heterojunction structure photocatalyst was constructed aiming to enhance the photocatalytic property of pyrochlores Sn2Nb2O7. Experimental analysis verified that a built-in electric field was...

RETRACTED: Visible-light-induced photocatalytic mitigation of ibuprofen using magnetic black TiO2-x/CaFe2O4 decorated on diatomaceous earth

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editors-in-Chief. Jun Wang and Youtao Song are listed as authors on the manuscript but have informed the journal that this occurred without their consent or knowledge of the submission and the email addresses provided were fake. Jun Wang and Youtao Song do not support the scientific conclusions of the article. Qiong Wu and Yan Chen furthermore note significant scientific errors with the article (including the wrong deconvolution method used for analysis of the XPS data, misuse of some characterization images and inability to reproduce some of the photodegradation data). One of the conditions of submission of a paper for publication is that all authors must be aware of and agree with its submission. As such this article represents a misuse of the scientific publishing system. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process.

WITHDRAWN: Fabrication of erbium and nitrogen modified TiO2/diatomaceous earth as a sunlight-driven floating photocatalyst for ibuprofen mitigation

This article has been withdrawn at the request of the authors. Zhaohong Zhang is listed as an author on the manuscript but has informed the journal that this occurred without their consent or knowledge of the submission, and the email address provided was fake. Zhaohong Zhang does not support the scientific conclusions of the article. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

Visible-light-driven elimination of oxytetracycline and Escherichia coli using magnetic La-doped TiO2/copper ferrite/diatomite composite

The development of powdery photocatalyst has long been studied, yet the low recovery in water is still its bottleneck. In this work, magnetic recyclable lanthanum-doped TiO₂/copper ferrite/diatomite (La-TCD) ternary composite was synthesized via sol-gel method. The physicochemical properties of various hybrid catalysts were characterized and studied, and their photocatalytic properties were evaluated via the decomposition of antibiotic oxytetracycline and disinfection of bacteria Escherichia coli under visible light. The formation of heterojunction between La-doped TiO₂ and copper ferrite hindered the recombination of photo-induced charge carriers and improved the photocatalytic activity. The photodecomposition rate of OTC was accelerated by the high adsorption ability of diatomite, due to the adsorption and decomposition synergistic effect between catalysts and substrate diatomite. The optimal La dopant amount as well as optimal catalyst dosage was determined. The composite could simply be recovered from waterbody via an external magnet, and the repetition tests indicated no obvious decrease of photoactivity. This nanocomposite presented good potential to be applied in environmental remediation process, due to its high photocatalytic efficiency under visible light, as well as its good reusability and stability.