Extended Interfacial Charge Transference in CoFe2O4/WO3 Nanocomposites for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline Antibiotics

Abstract

The large-scale utilization of antibiotics has opened a separate chapter of pollution with the generation of reactive drug-resistant bacteria. To deal with this, in this work, different mass ratios of CoFe₂O₄/WO₃ nanocomposites were prepared following an in situ growth method using the precursors of WO₃ and CoFe₂O₄. The structure, morphology, and optical properties of the nanocomposite photocatalysts were scrutinized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-Vis DRS), photoluminescence spectrum (PL), etc. The experimental data signified that the loading of CoFe₂O₄ obviously changed the optical properties of WO₃. The photocatalytic performance of CoFe₂O₄/WO₃ composites was investigated by considering tetracycline as a potential pollutant. The outcome of the analyzed data exposed that the CoFe₂O₄/WO₃ composite with a mass ratio of 5% had the best degradation performance for tetracycline eradication under the solar light, and a degradation efficiency of 77% was achieved in 20 min. The monitored degradation efficiency of the optimized photocatalyst was 45% higher compared with the degradation efficiency of 32% for pure WO₃. Capturing experiments and tests revealed that hydroxyl radical (·OH) and hole (h⁺) were the primary eradicators of the target pollutant. This study demonstrates that a proper mass of CoFe₂O₄ can significantly push WO₃ for enhanced eradication of waterborne pollutants.