A kind of easily recyclable and composite photocatalyst based on Ag/AgCl/Bi 2 O 3 /BiFeO 3 (AABB) and modified zeolite (MZ)/activated carbon (AC) were made, and investigated for the degradation of levofloxacin hydrochloride (Lev-HCl) in wastewater. The structures and morphologies of AABB@loading materials were firstly characterized. The results showed that under visible light , the optimal conditions for photodegradation were: mass ratio of MZ to AABB 3:2, AABB@MZ dosage 1–1.2 g/L, initial concentration of Lev-HCl <18 mg/L. Under these conditions, 72.09%∼ Lev-HCl could be degraded within 1.5 h. In addition, AABB@MZ could be easily recovered by gravity settling for 30 min and reused three times with 74.7% recovery rate. Photoluminescence (PL) combined with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) showed that photocatalysts mainly produced ·O 2 − and ·OH, which played a major role in the degradation process. Finally, a possible catalytic mechanism for AABB@MZ was suggested.
Ag/AgCl/Bi 2 O 3 /BiFeO 3 composite photocatalysts were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation and sono-chemical method, and their photocatalytic properties were investigated. The crystal structure, morphology, and elemental composition of the Ag/AgCl/Bi 2 O 3 /BiFeO 3 composite photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy-energy spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Carrier migration and separation studied by Uv–vis DRS and PL spectroscopy. XPS showed that Ag monomers were successfully reduced out. The photocatalytic activity of the composites was investigated by simulating sunlight (full-spectrum xenon lamp irradiation) irradiation of levofloxacin hydrochloride. The results showed that the composite photocatalyst had the highest photocatalytic activity at pH 8 of the prepared system, pH 7 of the reaction solution and Ag + concentration of 0.1 mol/L (44.3 wt% loading), and still had good photocatalytic activity after five cycles. Compared with Bi 2 O 3 /BiFeO 3 and Ag/AgCl, Ag/AgCl/Bi 2 O 3 /BiFeO 3 exhibited better photocatalytic activity. In addition, based on the radical scavenging experiments and electron spin resonance analysis, ·O 2 - , h + and ∙OH were the reactive groups that played a role in the reaction system, and a possible catalytic mechanism of Ag/AgCl/Bi 2 O 3 /BiFeO 3 was proposed.