Novel FeVO4/CuS heterojunction nanocomposite as a high-performance visible-light-active photocatalyst for ibuprofen degradation in aquatic media

Herein, we report the fabrication of type-II FeVO4/CuS heterojunction nanocomposite by a versatile reflux-assisted co-precipitation procedure. The hybrid FeVO4/CuS heterostructure with a band gap of 1.95 eV, demonstrated excellent degradation efficiency of ibuprofen antibiotic (∼95%) after 90 min of visible-light irradiation, which displayed remarkably enhanced photocatalytic degradation (1.75 fold higher) in comparison to pristine FeVO4 structure. The superior photocatalytic performance of the FeVO4/CuS nanocomposite is associated with hierarchical flower-like architectures, great visible-light harvesting, and poor electron-hole recombination due to the fabrication of type-II heterojunction. In addition, we introduced an obvious photocatalytic destruction mechanism, which indicated that superoxides (•O2−) and holes (h+) were the invasive species in antibiotic degradation on the FeVO4/CuS photocatalyst. Consequently, the as-prepared FeVO4/CuS heterojunction photocatalyst is a promising candidate for the development of future photocatalysts towards the elimination of antibiotics under sun light irradiation at short process time.