Induced abundant oxygen vacancies in Sc(2)VO(5−δ)/g-C(3)N(4) heterojunctions for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of levofloxacin

Sc(2)VO(5−δ)/g-C(3)N(4) heterojunctions (SVCs) with abundant oxygen vacancies (OVs) were synthesized by ultrasonic exfoliation combined with the thermal etching method. The structures, OVs and spatial separation of the photogenerated carriers were systematically characterized. The results manifested that the SVCs were successfully constructed via the strong interaction between g-C(3)N(4) (CN) and Sc(2)VO(5−δ) (SV). The SVCs possessed a higher concentration of OVs than that of pristine CN and SV. The formation of the SVC heterostructures and the optimization of the OVs were the two major factors to accelerate the separation of the charge carriers and finally to improve the photocatalysis performance. The as-prepared 10%SVC (containing 10 wt% of SV) catalyst exhibited the highest OV concentration and the best photocatalytic performance. The levofloxacin (LVX) photodegradation activity showed a positive correlation with the OV concentration. The photocatalytic degradation efficiencies were 89.1, 98.8 and 99.0% on 10%SVC for LVX, methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB), respectively. These photodegradation processes followed the pseudo first order kinetic equation. The apparent rate constant (k(app)) of LVX degradation on 10%SVC was 11.0 and 7.5 times that of CN and SV. The h(+), ˙OH and ˙O(2)(−) were the major reactive species in the photodegradation process.