Enhanced Degradation of Levofloxacin through Visible-Light-Driven Peroxymonosulfate Activation over CuInS₂/g-C₃N₄ Heterojunctions

Abstract

In this work, the heterojunctions of CuInS2 embedded in the g-C3N4 materials (xCuInS2/g-C3N4, abbreviated as xCIS/GCN) was successfully prepared for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation under visible light. The catalysts are characterized by different techniques, such as XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, and UV-vis. The unique heterojunction composites can suppress the recombination of photogenerated pairs. The catalytic results showed that the 3CIS/GCN exhibited excellent catalytic levofloxacin (LVF) degradation efficiency, while more than 98.9% of LVF was removed in 60 min over a wide pH range. SO4•−, O2•−, OH•, and 1O2 were verified as the main reactive species for LVF degradation via the quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance technology (EPR). The synergetic effect of xCIS/GCN, PMS, and visible light irradiation was discussed. The possible LVF degradation pathway was proposed through byproducts analysis (LC-MS). Moreover, the 3CIS/GCN/vis-PMS system has very low metal leaching. Owing to xCIS/GCN having good properties for PMS activation, it has potential applications for LVF or other hazardous pollutants degradation.

Keywords

• peroxymonosulfate
• visible-light-assisted PMS activation
• antibiotics