An activated carbon fiber supported Fe₂O₃@bismuth carbonate heterojunction for enhanced visible light degradation of emerging pharmaceutical pollutants

The development of broadband light-harvesting heterojunctions through interface tuning over flexible support has practical wastewater treatment applications. Immobilization of the heterojunction over flexible support such as activated carbon fiber (ACF) can prevent their elution in streamflow and make it versatile for its use in a reactor system. In this work, we report the development of a heterojunction by depositing iron(iii) oxide nanoparticles over bismuth carbonate sheets supported over activated carbon fiber (Fe2O3@BC/ACF). The developed photocatalyst exhibits visible light photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of emerging pharmaceutical pollutants (antipyrine) under reactor operation. The higher photocatalytic activity (Fe2O3@BC/ACF1) has been explained in terms of interfacial tuning of the heterojunction and overall charge carrier separation upon different loading of Fe2O3 nanoparticles on the BC surface. The key role of active radical species was studied during photocatalytic degradation of antipyrine. Intact crystallinity and no leaching of photocatalyst (Fe2O3@BC/ACF1) confirm the applicability of materials for future wastewater treatment applications.