Construction of a porous pyrite cinder-supported Mn-doped BiFeO3 composite photocatalyst: Confined-space strategy, structure, and visible-light catalytic degradation toward ciprofloxacin

A series of novel confined visible-light catalysts, namely, Mn-doped BiFeO3 (MBFO) composite photocatalyst anchored on porous residue pyrite cinder (PR-PyC) after partial Fe extraction (PR-PyC/MBFO-φ, φ refers to the doped amount of Mn), was successfully constructed via confined-space strategy using the Fe extracted from PyC as Fe source for BiFeO3 (BFO) and the PR-PyC as the template and structure regulator for MBFO generation. The resulting PR-PyC/MBFO-5% is composed of relatively uniform nanoparticles anchored in the channels of PR-PyC matrix and interparticle interstices and has a specific surface area of 14.18 m2/g, an average pore size of 37.76 nm, and a pore volume 0.13 cm3/g. It has a type-II heterojunction with a band gap energy (Eg) of 1.95 eV and exhibits high visible-light catalytic degradation activity toward ciprofloxacin (CIP) and excellent recyclability. The CIP degradation rate of PR-PyC/MBFO-5% reached 96.41% with an apparent reaction rate constant kapp of 0.0265 min−1 under visible-light irradiation for 120 min, and the corresponding mineralization rate reached 77.42%. The active species produced during photocatalysis were h+ and •OH, in which h+ plays a major role. The doping of 5% Mn can effectively regulate the energy band structure and heterojunction type and the use of an appropriate amount of PR-PyC can effectively guide and regulate the structure and morphology of the as-prepared catalyst. This study presents an effective confined-space strategy for fabricating innovative high-efficiency photocatalysts for antibiotic degradation, thereby paving the way for the valuable resource utilization of PyC.