Light-driven Au–ZnO nanorod motors for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline

The abuse of antibiotics in human medicine and animal husbandry leads to the enrichment of antibiotic residues in aquatic environments, which has been a major problem of environmental pollution over the past decades. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a highly efficient approach to remove antibiotics from aquatic environments. Inspired by the motion characteristics of semiconductor-based micro-/nanomotors, a light-driven Au–ZnO nanomotor system based on vertically aligned ZnO arrays is successfully developed for the enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC). Under UV light (λ = 365 nm) illumination, these Au–ZnO nanomotors exhibit a high speed in deionized water and TC solution. Due to their efficient motion capability and Au-enhanced charge separation, these light-driven Au–ZnO nanomotors removed almost all TC (40 mg L−1) within 30 min and displayed stable photocatalytic activity for four cycles without any apparent deactivation. The as-developed motor-based strategy for enhanced antibiotic degradation has excellent potential in environmental governance.