Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity of AgI-BiOI/CNFs for tetracycline hydrochloride degradation under visible light irradiation

In this work, a novel AgI-BiOI/CNFs photocatalyst was successfully synthesized through reaction and electrospinning and carbonization processes. According to the results of XRD, XPS, SEM and TEM, BiOI and AgI nanoparticles were loaded onto the carbon nanofibers as expected. Compared with other as-prepared samples, the AgI-BiOI/CNFs(1) displayed highest photocatalytic performances and excellent recyclability, which was estimated through the degradation experiments of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) under visible light in 3 h. TC was degraded as carbon dioxide and other small molecules. The superoxide radicals (•O2−) was proved to be the main reactive species in trapping experiments. In addition, a possible photocatalytic mechanism of samples was systematically investigated.