In-situ grown electrospun PI/BiOCl nanofiber membranes for efficient photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics

The widespread use and even abuse of antibiotics has led to antibiotic wastewater posing a serious threat to global human health. However, due to its poor biodegradability, the effectiveness and cost of traditional wastewater treatment technologies in the field of antibiotic wastewater treatment remain challenging. This study introduces BiCl₃ into a polyimide (PI) solution and employs electrospinning technology to fabricate PI fiber membranes with high BiOCl loading in-situ, demonstrating outstanding photocatalytic performance. The photocatalytic performance of PI/BiOCl nanocomposite membrane was investigated in detail and the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation was explored. Experimental results demonstrate that the nanocomposite membrane exhibited excellent hydrophilicity. It exhibits significant efficacy in degrading tetracycline hydrochloride (TC). Under UV irradiation, it achieves a photodegradation efficiency of 99.3 % for TC within 8 h. After five cycles, the membrane maintained over 90.3 % degradation efficiency for TC, with photodegradation efficacy declining by only 9.1 %. It was found that the photocatalytic degradation of TC was mainly induced by superoxide radical (·O 2 − ). The membrane exhibits excellent stability, recoverability, and reusability, sustaining consistent degradation performance during prolonged operation. This approach offers a novel perspective for future research into developing more efficient and environmentally friendly materials for degrading tetracycline hydrochloride.