Preparation of polyetherimide/Bi2MoO6 composite membrane by electrospinning and hydrothermal method for rapid photocatalysis and its degradation mechanism

As a clean and environmental friendliness advanced oxidation technology, photocatalysis has attracted wide attention in recent years. An ideal photocatalyst should have the characteristics of narrow band gap, high stability and superior catalytic efficiency. Bismuth molybdate (Bi 2 MoO 6 ), with the narrow band gap (2.5–2.8 eV), has emerged as a research hotpot in the field of photocatalysis. Herein, a photocatalytic membrane was prepared by loading Bi 2 MoO 6 on polyetherimide (PEI) nanofiber membrane (PEI/Bi 2 MoO 6 ) by in-situ growth method and used for the degradation of dyes and antibiotics. Under the optimal reaction conditions, the obtained PEI/Bi 2 MoO 6 membrane showed the best photocatalytic performance with the degradation rate of 94.5 % for MO within 25 min under ultraviolet light. For other dyes such as Orange G (OG), Methylene Blue (MB), Janus Green B (JGB) and antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin (CIP) and Levofloxacin (LEV), PEI/Bi 2 MoO 6 membranes also showed excellent catalytic performance, and the photocatalytic membrane exhibited good reusability. The detailed photocatalytic mechanism was inferred and formulated through abundant characterizations. More importantly, the combination of photocatalysis and membrane technology enabled PEI/Bi 2 MoO 6 membrane good photocatalytic performance under dynamic and continuous reaction, which provided promising potential for continuous photocatalytic degradation of pollutants in practical applications.