Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline by BN/TiO₂ composite

Tetracycline (TC), as a widely used antibiotic, poses significant environmental safety risks due to its persistence and bioaccumulation. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is a wide bandgap photocatalyst, and it only responds to ultraviolet light and has a low utilization of visible light, which severely restricts its applications. In this study, 12%BN/TiO₂ nanosheets obtained by a simple hydrothermal method combining hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and the removal rate of TC almost reaches 99.7% within 30 min under simulated sunlight. Moreover, there was almost no change in the activity of the catalyst after it was recycled five times. XPS results demonstrate that the formation of the B-O-Ti bond in 12% BN/TiO₂ leads to a rearrangement of the energy levels within TiO₂. This structural modification effectively narrows the band gap of the material, thereby significantly enhancing its ability to utilize visible light. Furthermore, the interfacial effect between h-BN and TiO₂ enhances the separation and migration of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. •O₂^- radicals are the main active species in the degradation of TC. This study confirmed that the BN/TiO₂ system had excellent photocatalytic activity and provides an effective approach for constructing high-performance photocatalysts.