Novel RGO and Concave Cube Cu2O Co-Modified BiVO4 Nanosheets with Enhanced Photocatalytic and Surface Adsorption Performances of Tetracycline

A novel ternary Cu2O/BiVO4/RGO photocatalyst is successfully constructed by hydrothermal and evaporation-induced method, and it exhibits superior photocatalytic performance for degradation tetracycline (TC). Meanwhile, the visible light absorption range of composite photocatalyst is effectively broadened by the formation of heterojunction with narrow band gap semiconductor Cu2O. And the separation efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs is significantly enhanced by the synergistic effect of Cu2O and RGO. More importantly, the adsorption of TC by ternary Cu2O/BiVO4/RGO possesses high adsorption capacity, which is 23.73 times higher than that of pure BiVO4. Additionally, the possible reaction mechanism is clearly revealed by radical trapping experiment, electron spin-resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. This work provides a new insight to design a photocatalyst with excellent adsorption to remove organic contaminants in water.