In-situ silver (Ag) clusters strengthed spatial separation of photogenerated charge-carriers for efficient photocatalytic tetracycline antibiotic purification

Metal cluster co-catalysts have been widely considered as an effective strategy to address the energy crisis and environmental problems owning to the efficient light absorption and the enhanced separation of electron hole pairs. In this contribution, via a facile in-situ photoreduction technique, the Ag/(BiO) 2 CO 3 composites were synthesized to degrade the antibiotic pollutant tetracycline (TC). The incorporation of silver (Ag) clusters on (BiO) 2 CO 3 surface can form the built-in electric field (IEF) at the Mott-Schottky junction interface and facilitate the migration of photo-generated electrons from (BiO) 2 CO 3 to Ag clusters. Simultaneously, the synergy of local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect also strengthens the light absorption capacity, and finally improving photocatalytic activities of composite materials. The optimal Ag/(BiO) 2 CO 3 composites exhibit excellent TC degradation, which is approximately 6.7 times than that of the pure (BiO) 2 CO 3 . Eventually, the potential degradation pathway of TC is proposed and the toxicity of the intermediates is also evaluated. This work motivates the design of highly efficient metal cluster co-catalysts and widens their potential applications in the environmental remediation.