High-efficiency ciprofloxacin degradation achieved by assembling plasmonic Ag nanoparticles on oxygen vacancy-rich BiO2-x nanosheets

Efficient utilization of photogenerated carriers and ciprofloxacin adsorption are critical factors for electron kinetics during ciprofloxacin degradation. In this study, a series of Ag/BiO 2-x (ABO v ) photocatalysts were synthesized using hydrothermal and in situ photoreduction strategies, where Ag nanoparticles were constructed on BiO 2-x nanosheets enriched with oxygen vacancies. The optimal catalyst, 0.8-ABO v , exhibited superior photocatalytic degradation activity, achieving a CIP degradation rate of 93.1% within 120 min, which was approximately 3.4 times higher than that of BiO 2-x . The enhanced photocatalytic performance of the 0.8-ABO v is primarily attributed to the synergistic effect of the surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag nanoparticles and oxygen vacancy engineering, which facilitates the CIP/O 2 adsorption and the photogenerated carriers separation. The electron migration direction, reactive oxygen species formation, and ciprofloxacin degradation pathway on the surface of ABO v were analyzed using various spectroscopic techniques. These results highlight the potential of ABO v composites for advanced water treatment applications.