Tetracycline Removal Under Solar Illumination Over Ag3VO4/mpg‐C3N4 Heterojunction Photocatalysts

: Ag3 VO4 /mpg-C3 N4 (mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride) heterojunction photocatalysts were prepared by anchoring tiny Ag3 VO4 particles on the nanosheet of mpg-C3 N4 . The prepared Ag3 VO4 /mpg-C3 N4 heterojunctions were used to remove tetracycline (TC), a kind of antibiotics widely released into the aquatic environment under solar irradiation. Compared with pure mpg-C3 N4 and Ag3 VO4 , Ag3 VO4 /mpg-C3 N4 displayed much higher photocatalytic activity (83.2% removal rate within 90 min under visible-light irradiation). Importantly, no apparent deactivation was observed for Ag3 VO4 /mpg-C3 N4 -40 after five cycles, inferring a good reusability. As confirmed by photocurrent measurement and photoluminescence spectra, the excellent photocatalytic property of Ag3 VO4 /mpg-C3 N4 was credit to the electron-hole separation enhancement at the formed heterojunction of two semiconductors. In addition, a possible mechanism and intermediate products for the Ag3 VO4 /mpg-C3 N4 photocatalysts toward the photodegradation of TC in aqueous solution under artificial sunlight radiation were proposed based on the scavengers trapping test, ESR spectra and a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with mass spectrometer (MS) analysis. This investigation provides a low cost, green and easily practical approach to remove the antibiotics in the aquatic environment.