Rational design of Ag@AgCl/g-CN/zeolite composite with significantly enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for tetracycline degradation and hydrogen evolution.

In the case of increasingly scarce global energy resources and worsening environmental problems, it is particularly important to explore effective ways to alleviate the environmental and energy crises. In this paper, a ternary Ag@AgCl/g-CN/zeolite photocatalyst was prepared for effective degradation of tetracycline (TC) and H production under visible light. Under visible light irradiation, the Ag@AgCl/g-CN/zeolite-25 photocatalyst demonstrates a remarkable degradation efficiency of 97.2 % for TC in 120 min and the maximum H production rate with 962.9 μmol h•g which is 13.0 and 4.5 times that of g-CN and Ag@AgCl. The significant improvement of photocatalytic activity is mainly attributed to the construction of Ag@AgCl/g-CN heterojunction, the introduction of zeolite carrier with good dispersion effect and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of Ag particles in composite. Furthermore, the degradation process of TC was investigated using three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy (3D EEM). The intermediate product was characterized using HPLC-MS analysis, and a degradation pathway for TC was proposed. The toxicity of the intermediate product was assessed using the TEST method. Moreover, a detailed reaction mechanism was proposed. This work provides a promising catalyst and a new strategy for efficient photocatalytic H evolution and wastewater treatment based on the construction of plasmonic heterojunction structure on mineral carrier.