Ultrathin carbon-coated Zr3+-ZrO2 nanostructures for efficient visible light photocatalytic antibiotic elimination

Broadband solar light absorption and visible light photocatalysis of surface modified ultrawide bandgap semiconductors are receiving wide attentions because of their more negative conduction band potential and positive valence band potential for refractory organics degradation. Here, we reported a novel modified solvothermal strategy by the introduction of distilled water into small molecular alcohols to synthesize crystallized carbon-coated Zr 3+ -ZrO 2 composites for enhanced visible light absorption and visible light photocatalytic tetracycline degradation, in which the distilled water favored for the crystallization of Zr 3+ -ZrO 2 and the formed ultrathin carbon layers derived from the polymerization of small molecular alcohols were contributing to the generation of Zr 3+ species and well dispersion of Zr 3+ self-doped ZrO 2 nanoparticles. The experimental results also showed that carbon-coated Zr 3+ -ZrO 2 composites exhibited enhanced visible light absorption, long-lived charges, efficient visible light photocatalytic performance and good recyclable stability. Besides, possible photocatalytic mechanism and antibiotic degradation pathways over carbon-coated Zr 3+ -ZrO 2 composites under visible light irradiation were also proposed in detail.