Photocatalytic in situ H_(2)O_(2) production and activation for enhanced ciprofloxacin degradation over CeO_(2)-Co_(3)O_(4)/g-C_(3)N_(4):key role of CeO_(2)

The abused ciprofloxacin antibiotics have caused significant environmental damage.Although oxidative degradation of ciprofloxacin exhibits promising efficacy,it often entails excessive energy consumption.Hence,it is necessary to explore an effective and ecologically sustainable degradation strategy.Herein,we demonstrated that g-C_(3)N_(4) decorated with the coordinated CeO_(2)and Co_(3)O_(4)(CeO_(2)-Co_(3)O_(4)/CN)exhibited effective ciprofloxacin photodegradation via in situ H_(2)O_(2) production and activation mechanism.Results indicate that the introduced CeO_(2) enhances the transference of photogenerated electrons to O_(2) by adjusting the oxygen vacancy of photocatalyst,thereby increasing the generation of superoxide radicals,which in turn generate H_(2)O_(2),resulting in a 22.4-fold increase in H_(2)O_(2) generation over g-C_(3)N_(4).Moreover,the in situ H_(2)O_(2)generation facilitated by CeO_(2) is confirmed to be essential for ciprofloxacin degradation via CeO_(2)-Co_(3)O_(4)/CN,as it provides enough oxidant for Co_(3)O_(4) to activate into hydroxyl radicals for the pollutants degradation.Ultimately,CeO_(2)-Co_(3)O_(4)/CN achieves a ciprofloxacin degradation ratio of 97.7%within 80 min.This study introduces a novel approach that combines H_(2)O_(2) generation and activation,offering an innovative perspective for achieving clean and efficient purification of antibiotic-contaminated water.