Karaca M, Eroğlu Z, Açışlı Ö, Metin Ö, Karaca S. Boosting Tetracycline Degradation with an S-Scheme Heterojunction of N-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots-Decorated TiO
2.
ACS OMEGA 2023;
8:26597-26609. [PMID:
37521662 PMCID:
PMC10373195 DOI:
10.1021/acsomega.3c03532]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
N-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) derived from the Rumex crispus L. plant were incorporated into TiO2 via a facile hydrothermal method. As-prepared materials were characterized and used in the photocatalytic tetracycline (TC) degradation under UVA light irradiation by examining several operational parameters involving the N-CQDs amount, initial TC concentration, pH, and photocatalytic reaction time. XRD analysis revealed the conversion of the rutile phase to the anatase phase after the incorporation of N-CQDs into the TiO2 structure. The results revealed that the N-CQDs/TiO2 photocatalysts demonstrated the highest efficiency in TC degradation compared to other processes of adsorption, photolysis (UVA), and photocatalysis with TiO2 (TiO2/UVA). Under optimized conditions, 10 mg/L TC at pH 5.15 with 0.2 g/L N-CQDs/TiO2 catalyst showed 97.7% photocatalytic degradation for 120 min under UVA irradiation. The formation of an S-scheme heterojunction between N-CQDs and TiO2 provided enhanced charge separation and strong redox capability, causing significant improvement in the photocatalytic performance of N-CQDs/TiO2. Trapping experiments showed that O2•- and h+ are the predominant reactive species for the TC elimination in an aqueous solution.
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