Convenient synthesis of seaweed-derived porous carbon supported Cu-MoO2 composite as high-performance photocatalyst

The development of a simple and convenient method for synthesizing photocatalysts for the degradation of tetracycline remains a great challenge. In this work, a Cu-MoO2@C composite was successfully synthesized by a high-temperature carbonization of ammonium molybdate infiltrated copper alginate aerogel, which was obtained by curing a mixture of sodium alginate and ammonium molybdate using Cu2+ ions. The photocatalytic properties of the prepared composites were evaluated by the degradation of tetracycline. The results showed that the introduction of Cu nanoparticles on the MoO2@C hybrid could significantly improve the catalytic performance, and the degradation rate of tetracycline reached 92.48 % after 60 min light exposure. Tetracycline's estimated photodegradation rate constant, which was 0.04013 min−1, was 5 times more than that of the composite without Cu loading. Furthermore, the reaction mechanism was explored by electron spin resonance (ESR) test and free radical capture reagent. Intermediate products of tetracycline degradation were analyzed by liquid mass spectrometry (LC-MS).