Highly selective photodegradation of ciprofloxacin by molecularly imprinted Fe3O4/g-C3N4

• A new MI-FC has been fabricated by hydrothermal and molecular imprinting technology. • MI-FC exhibits high selective adsorption degradation efficiency for CIP. • MI-FC possesses a stable photocatalytic activity after five recycling runs. • O 2 - and h + are active species during the photocatalytic process. A stable molecularly imprinted Fe 3 O 4 /g-C 3 N 4 (MI-FC) was fabricated using a hydrothermal method and molecular imprinting technology. The selective degradation of MI-FC was evaluated by the adsorption and photodegradation of ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. Compared with other photocatalysts, MI-FC showed excellent selective adsorption efficiency (51.18%) and photodegradation efficiency (71.44%) for ciprofloxacin. The ciprofloxacin adsorption and degradation efficiency were higher than that of levofloxacin. These results suggest the synergistic effects of selective recognition and photocatalysis can improve photocatalytic selectivity. This study provides a method for the removal of low residue pollutants in wastewater.