Magnetically recyclable PbMoO4/BC/Fe3O4 composite for tetracycline removal: fabrication, performance, and mechanism

A novel PbMoO 4 @MBC (MBL-2) magnetic heterojunction photocatalyst was prepared by the successful loading of Fe 3 O 4 with PbMoO 4 onto the highly conductive BC surface through the integration of co-precipitation and pyrolysis. Using advanced characterization methods could reveal the composition, morphology, and optoelectronic properties of the material. The results showed that using BC as the electron transfer interface provided a pathway for charge transfer between Fe 3 O 4 and PbMoO 4 , and importantly, the PbMoO 4 @MBC (MBL-2) nanocomposite had a large specific surface area, excellent magnetic response, high light absorption capacity for efficient carrier separation, and thus the photocatalytic activity was high. The degradation rate of MBL-2 for TC under visible light was as high as 89%. More importantly, PbMoO 4 @MBC (MBL-2) possessed good stability and reusability. The Z-scheme electron transfer pathway for improved photocatalytic performance was proposed by radical capture experiments and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurement analysis. Graphical abstract