Facile fabrication of Fe3O4-Biochar hybrid nanomaterials as catalysts for Photo-Fenton degradation of tetracycline

In this work, a simple hydrothermal method was designed to prepare Fe3O4/Biochar (Fe3O4/BC) for removing tetracycline (TC) with high efficiency. The material composition and optical properties of the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that the degradation rate of tetracycline was the highest when the material was synthesized at the ratio of 1:1 under the action of UV lamp and C2H2O4, which could reach 99%. The degradation efficiency of pure BC was only 29%, and the maximum kinetic rate constant was 0.051min−1, which was 9.27 times than that of pure BC (0.0055min−1). Performance optimization experiments were carried out with initial concentration, pH and other factors, and it can be concluded that the photocatalyst prepared by us greatly improves the degradation efficiency of TC. The current work provides a promising strategy for designing cheap and efficient iron-based photocatalysts that can remove antibiotics from sewage for Fenton catalysis and other environmental applications.