92.58 % efficiency of solar-driven degradation of tetracycline solution by Pt/WO₃ nanohybrid

By using the dry plasma reduction method, Pt nanoparticles were successfully immobilized into WO3 to fabricate a Pt/WO3 composite catalyst and its application as an efficient photocatalysis in solar-driven degradation of Tetracycline (TTC). As a result, Pt nanoparticles (similar to 5nm) are uniform and well-distributed on the surface of WO3. The bandgap of Pt/WO3 is slightly lower than that of WO3. The optimized TTC degradation efficiency reached 76.62 % and 92.58 % under visible light and 1-sun irradiation, respectively. The mineralization study further proved that at the optimum operational parameters, only 53.68 % and 71.38 % of TTC compounds were decomposed completely into inorganic ones under compact light and 1-sun irradiation, respectively. The transformation process of TTC showed that holes and hydroxyl radicals are the main agents for TTC degradation. The removal percentage declined by 6 % after seven consecutive cycles, showing high reusability, full-scale, and practical application of Pt/WO3 material in organic compound treatment.