FeIn2S4/Bi2MoO6 Z-scheme heterostructural composites efficiently degrade tetracycline hydrochloride under visible light

• Facile synthesis of FeIn 2 S 4 /Bi 2 MoO 6 composites with Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism by solvothermal method. • The 10% FeIn 2 S 4 /Bi 2 MoO 6 has the highest degradation rate for TCH. • The 10% FeIn 2 S 4 /Bi 2 MoO 6 heterostructure still retains the morphological characteristics of Bi 2 MoO 6 . • Density functional theory (DFT) methods calculated the band structure and state density (DOS) of FeIn 2 S 4 and Bi 2 MoO 6 . Antibiotics have gradually become a new pollutant in water, which seriously threatens human health. The development of efficient and easily recyclable photocatalysts is urgently needed to achieve water purification. Herein, a novel FeIn 2 S 4 /Bi 2 MoO 6 Z-scheme heterostructural composite is successfully synthesized by a simple heat-shrinkable polymerization solvothermal method. When the doping FeIn 2 S 4 mass fraction is 10%, the degradation rate of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) is the highest, reaching 83.25%, which is 1.97 and 2.38 times higher than that of pure FeIn 2 S 4 and Bi 2 MoO 6 , respectively. After five consecutive cycles, the degradation rate still reached 72.35%, which has high photocatalytic stability. Combined with energy band structure analysis, active substance capture experiments and modeling with density functional theory calculations confirm the photocatalytic mechanism of Z-scheme heterostructure. This project proposes a promising and feasible method for the preparation of Z-scheme heterostructured photocatalysts.