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3857622 
Journal Article 
Visible-light-driven photocatalytic removal of antibiotics by newly designed C3N4@MnFe2O4-graphene nanocomposites 
Wang, X; Wang, A; Ma, J 
2017 
Yes 
Journal of Hazardous Materials
ISSN: 0304-3894
EISSN: 1873-3336 
336 
81-92 
English 
28475915 
WOS:000403519600010 
Newly designed magnetic g-C3N4/MnFe2O4/graphene (C3N4@MnFe2O4-G) composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity were successfully synthesized. The photocatalytic behavior of C3N4@MnFe2O4-G was assessed in photo Fenton-like degradation of antibiotic pollutants, including metronidazole, amoxicillin, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin, using persulfate (S2O8(2-)) as an oxidant under visible light illumination. The C3N4@MnFe2O4-G composites show a superior catalytic activity with 94.5% removal of metronidazole that was almost 3.5 times as high as that of the pure g-C3N4, which could be attributed to the synergistic promoting effect of the favorable adsorptivity, enhanced light absorption intensity, high migration efficiency of charge carriers and longer lifetime of separated electron-hole pairs derived from the formation of the heterojunction between the g-C3N4 and MnFe2O4. Moreover, the self-redox properties of iron and manganese atoms in MnFe2O4 induced by S2O8(2-) were particularly beneficial for the generation of SO4(-). The quenching tests and electron spin resonance (ESR) display that h(+), O2(-), SO4(-) and OH are responsible for the antibiotics decomposition. The heterogeneous photocatalyst could be easily recovered by an extra magnetic field and reused several times without any obvious deterioration in catalytic activity. According to the investigation of active species and identified intermediates, the possible photocatalytic mechanism and reaction pathways have been proposed.