Synthesis of visible-light-activated CeO/BiCrO photocatalysts with S-scheme mechanism: Effectual performances in detoxification of various antibiotics and organic pollutants.

In today's world, the development of an efficient water treatment strategy requires a prospective approach for the production of active and stable photocatalysts. The construction of heterojunctions with different semiconductors is a promising procedure for improving photocatalytic performances. In the present research, binary CeO/BiCrO photocatalysts were synthesized using a hydrothermal route preceded by a calcination step. The CeO/BiCrO (15%) photocatalyst proved its unique performance of 29.3, 11.4, 11.7, and 23.0 times better than CeO for photodegradation of respectively tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH), metronidazole (MET), azithromycin (AZM), and cephalexin (CPN), as antibiotic pollutants, upon visible light. The effective photocatalytic ability, which was caused by the impressive suppression of charge carriers, can be understood by the developed S-scheme mechanism. Moreover, the lower resistance of CeO/BiCrO (15%) compared to CeO, CeO, and BiCrO against the charges transfer was another confirmation for boosted photocatalytic performance of the CeO/BiCrO (15%) nanocomposite. Ultimately, the boosted activity, repeated utilization for five runs, and biocompatibility confirmation of the purified solution through pinto bean cultivation exhibited that CeO/BiCrO photocatalysts could have the promising capability for detoxification of polluted water.