Design of novel solar-light-induced KBiOI/Ag-AgVO nanophotocatalyst with Ag-bridged Z-scheme charge carriers separation and boosted photo-elimination of hospital effluents.

In this research, a novel solar-light-induced KBiOI/Ag-AgVO nanophotocatalyst with an Ag-bridged Z-scheme structure has been designed and synthesized through a sonochemical method to photo-degrade antibiotic hospital contaminants under simulated solar-light irradiation. Synthesized nanophotocatalysts with varying KBiOI to Ag-AgVO weight ratios underwent N Adsorption-Desorption, XRD, TEM, UV-Vis DRS, FESEM and PL analyses. The Ag-bridged Z-scheme-structured KBiOI/Ag-AgVO (1:1) nanophotocatalyst, demonstrated broad light absorption within the solar-light spectrum and showcased effective photocatalytic efficacy in degrading tetracycline antibiotic (88.3% and 83.5% removal for 25 and 50 mg/L, respectively, after 120 min). This performance outperformed other composited photocatalysts, as well as pure Ag-AgVO and KBiOI photocatalysts. The enhanced degradation efficiency of the KBiOI/Ag-AgVO (1:1) composite can be ascribed to the synergistic interaction of various elements. These include the surface plasmon resonance impact of silver nanoparticles, their pronounced sensitivity to solar irradiation, and the Z-scheme heterojunction configuration. Collectively, these factors work together to minimize the recombination rate of photoinduced electron-hole pairs, thereby amplifying the efficacy of photodegradation. Furthermore, the KBiOI/Ag-AgVO (1:1) composite photocatalyst displayed sustained pollutants elimination performance even after undergoing four consecutive cycles.