The Ternary Heterostructures of BiOBr/Ultrathin g-C₃N₄/Black Phosphorous Quantum Dot Composites for Photodegradation of Tetracycline

Polymers (Basel). 2018 Oct 9;10(10):1118. doi: 10.3390/polym10101118.

Abstract

Herein, we synthesized BiOBr/ultrathin g-C₃N₄/ternary heterostructures modified with black phosphorous quantum dots using a simple water bath heating and sonication method. The ternary heterostructure was then used for the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline in visible light, with an efficiency as high as 92% after 3 h of irradiation. Thus, the photodegradation efficiency is greatly improved compared to that of ultrathin g-C₃N₄, BiOBr, and black phosphorous quantum dots alone. The synthesized ternary heterostructure improves the charge separation efficiency, thus increasing the photodegradation efficiency. This work provides a new and efficient method for the degradation of antibiotics in the environment.

Keywords: BiOBr; antibiotics; black phosphorous quantum dots; photodegradation; ultrathin g-C3N4.