Fabrication of CuBi2O4/Bi2MoO6 p-n heterojunction as synergistic photoelectric catalyst for efficient removal of ciprofloxacin in photo-electro-Fenton-like system

Ciprofloxacin (CIP) has been widely detected in aquatic ecosystems due to antibiotics abuse and its refractory, which seriously affected public health and ecological safety. Herein, we devised a photo-electro-Fenton-like (PEF-like) system for efficient removal of CIP. CuBi 2 O 4 /Bi 2 MoO 6 (CBMO) p-n heterojunction composites were successfully fabricated through hydrothermal and solvothermal methods. Significantly, CBMO composite catalysts were not only able to generate ·OH by the Cu + activation of H 2 O 2 during electro-Fenton process, the following synergistic effects in the photo-Fenton process simultaneously promoted the production of more ·OH. The internal electric field (IEF) in the p-n heterojunction was conducive to the directional transfer of photogenerated electrons, thus promoting the spatial separation of photogenerated carriers. Moreover, photogenerated electrons could directly or indirectly activate H 2 O 2 to yield more abundant ·OH, thus improving photoelectric catalytic activity . Consequently, the degradation efficiency of CIP during PEF-like system was 97.4% in 90 min and the mineralization efficiency finally reached 78.5% in 180 min. The prepared CuBi 2 O 4 /Bi 2 MoO 6 ‐40 (CBMO-40) possessed great stability and structural integrity after six consecutive cycles. Furthermore, the CBMO-40 in PEF-like system showed superior performance for the removal of diverse antibiotics, including quinolones, tetracyclines and sulfonamides, which revealed the broad applicability of CBMO-40 for the antibiotics removal in PEF-like system.