Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride over rugby-like β-Ga2O3 with a 3D hierarchically assembled porous structure for environmental remediation

Abstract

A novel rugby-like β-Ga₂O₃ photocatalyst with a 3D hierarchically assembled porous structure was successfully constructed through a facile precipitation–calcination method. The synthesized Ga₂O₃ materials were used for the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC·HCl) and the effects of calcination temperature on photocatalytic activity were discussed. The conversion of TC·HCl over Ga₂O₃-900 was 99.0% after 25 min of UV-light irradiation, which was higher than those of commercial Ga₂O₃ (71.2%) and P25 (82.9%). The best photocatalytic activity of Ga₂O₃-900 could be attributed to its large specific surface area, intrinsic electronic properties and stable 3D hierarchically assembled porous structure. Based on the liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) analysis, the photocatalytic mechanism of Ga₂O₃ and feasible degradation pathway of TC·HCl were proposed. We believe that the present study can exploit an effective avenue to design photocatalysts with 3D hierarchical porous structures to meet ever-increasing environmental remediation requirements.