Degradation of tetracycline in medical wastewater by Fe2O3/CuO photocatalyst under visible light

To explore the development of photocatalytic materials which were highly efficient, non-polluting, have low production cost, and are recyclable for degrading tetracycline (TC) in medical wastewater. In the study, Fe 2 O 3 was selected as the photocatalyst, and CuO was introduced to modify it to produce the Fe 2 O 3 /CuO photocatalyst. The Fe 2 O 3 /CuO composite photocatalysts were investigated by characterization means such as XRD, SEM, UV-Vis DRS, and EPR. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the Fe 2 O 3 /CuO was attributed to CuO doping, which modulates the band structure, creating a new bandgap that extends the absorption spectrum and improves the utilization of visible light. Additionally, Fe 2 O 3 serves as an electron donor, significantly accelerating the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The effects of doping ratio, dosage, initial concentration of TC, and illumination time on the degradation of TC in medical wastewater by Fe 2 O 3 /CuO composite photocatalysts were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the degradation rate of TC by the Fe 2 O 3 /CuO photocatalyst was 94.26%. The removal rate of the loaded Fe 2 O 3 /CuO-4 photocatalyst remained above 90% after five repetitions. The Fe 2 O 3 /CuO-4 photocatalyst was suitable for practical application in the treatment of antibiotics in medical wastewater due to its simple preparation and good photocatalytic ability, and reusability.