Removal of tetracycline hydrochloride using S–g-C3N4/PTFE membrane under visible light irradiation

Abstract

As a type of medicine, tetracycline (TC) is widely used in the world, but it is not easy to degrade due to its poor biochemical properties and stable physicochemical properties. In this work, graphite sulfide carbon nitride compound (S–g-C₃N₄/PTFE membrane) photocatalyst, formed from a PTFE membrane and graphite sulfide carbon nitride (S–g-C₃N₄), was prepared for the treatment of TC in wastewater. A variety of characterization methods were used to analyze the catalyst, such as scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), etc. Photocatalytic experiments showed that the photocatalytic degradation extent was 98.1% when the catalyst dosage was 1 ​g/L, the loading of S–g-C₃N₄ was 50 ​mg, pH was 5 and the initial concentration of TC was 10 ​mg/L. Moreover, S–g-C₃N₄/PTFE membrane has good recovery performance and photocatalytic stability, and has good degradation performance for most pollutants in urban sewage treatment plants. S–g-C₃N₄/PTFE membrane will have good application prospects in contaminated water environments because of its advantages of excellent degradation ability, easy regeneration and separation from the water phase.