Enhanced electron and mass transfer flow-through cell with C3N4-MoS2 supported on three-dimensional graphene photoanode for the removal of antibiotic and antibacterial potencies in ampicillin wastewater

Abstract An enhanced electron and mass transfer photocatalytic flow-through system was developed using three-dimensional (3D) photoelectrode as photoanode and Pt/C air breathing electrode as cathode. The ampicillin removal activity and characteristics of the C3N4-MoS2 supported on three-dimensional graphene (C3N4-MoS2/3DG) photoelectrode were compared with other 3D materials. The removal efficiency of ampicillin with the photoanode reached 74.6 % after the 2 h of reaction. Acute antibacterial potency assessment and the ECOSAR model indicated the toxicity of ampicillin decreased during the photocatalysis reaction, which may be ascribed to the cleavage of functional groups such as amido bonds and peptide bonds. The preferable performance of the flow-through photocatalysis was attributed to excellent adsorption capacity and heterojunction mechanism of C3N4-MoS2/3DG, better mass and electron transfer ability of the flow-through system, and cooperation mechanism of the photoanode and cathode. The photoanode flow-through cell system is an attractive method to efficiently remove organic pollutants in wastewater treatment.