Abstract
To alleviate antibiotic pollution in aqueous environments, a CuSiO \(_3\) /Ag \(_6\) Si \(_2\) O \(_7\) -Palygorskite (Cu/Ag-Pal) heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized. The ternary Type-I/Type-II heterostructure effectively accelerated the separation and directional migration of photogenerated carriers, where electrons accumulated in Ag \(_6\) Si \(_2\) O \(_7\) and holes enriched in CuSiO \(_3\) , thus inhibiting carrier recombination and facilitating efficient peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation. Under visible light, the Cu/Ag-Pal/PDS system removed 95% of norfloxacin (NOR) within 30 min. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that NOR degradation was dominated by the \(^{1}\) O \(_2\) -mediated non-radical pathway, accompanied by O \(_2^{\bullet -}\) , SO \(_4^{\bullet -}\) and HO \(^{\bullet }\) . NOR was decomposed mainly via piperazine ring opening, defluorination, decarboxylation, and quinolone oxidation, and most intermediates showed decreased ecotoxicity. This work provides a feasible strategy for efficient antibiotic wastewater remediation.
Graphical Abstract