BMO-BOCI Composite Photocatalysts for Efficient Tetracycline Degradation under Visible Light

Fig.5a demonstrates the degradation efficiency of BMO, BOCI, and different ratios of the combined BMO-BOCI photocatalysts for the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic efficiencies of the pure phase BMO and BOCI were 81.6% and 62.5%, respectively, and the photocatalytic efficiencies of a series of BMO-BOCI composite photocatalysts were much higher than those of the monomeric samples. The photocatalytic performance gradually increased with the addition of BOCI, and the best performance was achieved when the mass ratio of BMO to BOCI was 6:4, at which time the photocatalytic efficiency of TC degradation was 94%. Furthermore, insufficient or excessive BOCI loading in BMO-BOCI composites was harmful to the progress of photocatalysis. Insufficient loading of BOCI will lead to the reduction of the heterogeneous structure on the catalyst surface. Conversely, excessive BOCI nanosheets will hinder the absorption of incident light by BMO. Both conditions are not conducive to the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, resulting in the decrease of photocatalytic activity.