Fe-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 heterojunction for efficient tetracycline degradation under low-intensity UV irradiation
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Science and Technology, Faculty of Humanities, Management and Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia Sarawak
- 2Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
- 3Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia
- 4Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University
- 5Department of Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, East Port Said National University
- 6Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia
- 7Graduate School of Life Sciences and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology
Abstract
Tetracycline (TC) contamination remains difficult to control because conventional wastewater treatment processes often do not fully remove persistent antibiotic residues. Although Fe doping and BiVO4/g-C3N4 heterojunction formation have been reported previously, the composition-dependent behavior of Fe-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 photocatalysts under low-intensity UVC irradiation remains insufficiently clarified. This study developed 3% Fe-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 (FeBVO: CN) heterojunction photocatalysts with different FeBVO: CN mass ratios and evaluated their TC degradation performance, operating conditions, reactive-species involvement, reusability, and preliminary synthesis cost. The composites were synthesized by hydrothermal treatment followed by calcination and characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Among the prepared samples, FeBVO/CN-2:1 showed the highest photocatalytic activity, achieving 83.6% TC degradation within 120 min at 5 mg L−1 TC, 200 mg L− 1 catalyst loading, and pH 10. The degradation followed pseudo-first-order (PFO) kinetics with a rate constant of 0.01509 min− 1. Scavenger experiments suggested that •O2 − -related pathways exerted the strongest influence, while •OH and h+ also contributed to TC transformation. The catalyst retained 77.1% degradation efficiency after three cycles, indicating preliminary reusability under the tested conditions. This work advances the field by linking FeBVO: CN composition with structural features, optical response, photocatalytic activity, reactive-species behavior, and practical operating constraints under low-intensity UVC irradiation. Mulliken-estimated band-edge positions, together with the scavenger results, supported a proposed Z-scheme-like charge-transfer pathway as the more thermodynamically consistent interpretation of the observed reactive-species behaviour.
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BibTeX
@article{maran2026fedoped,
title = {{Fe-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 heterojunction for efficient tetracycline degradation under low-intensity UV irradiation}},
author = {Melissa Alexander Maran and Alvin Lim Teik Zheng and Yiizamy Suffian and Nor Hisam Zamakshshari and Tan Kar Ban and Supakorn Boonyuen and Hisham N. Farrag and Eric Lim Teik Chung and Yoshito Andou},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-63467-2},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63467-2},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Fe-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 heterojunction for efficient tetracycline degradation under low-intensity UV irradiation
AU - Melissa Alexander Maran
AU - Alvin Lim Teik Zheng
AU - Yiizamy Suffian
AU - Nor Hisam Zamakshshari
AU - Tan Kar Ban
AU - Supakorn Boonyuen
AU - Hisham N. Farrag
AU - Eric Lim Teik Chung
AU - Yoshito Andou
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-63467-2
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63467-2
AB - Tetracycline (TC) contamination remains difficult to control because conventional wastewater treatment processes often do not fully remove persistent antibiotic residues. Although Fe doping and BiVO4/g-C3N4 heterojunction formation have been reported previously, the composition-dependent behavior of Fe-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 photocatalysts under low-intensity UVC irradiation remains insufficiently clarified. This study developed 3% Fe-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 (FeBVO: CN) heterojunction photocatalysts with different FeBVO: CN mass ratios and evaluated their TC degradation performance, operating conditions, reactive-species involvement, reusability, and preliminary synthesis cost. The composites were synthesized by hydrothermal treatment followed by calcination and characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Among the prepared samples, FeBVO/CN-2:1 showed the highest photocatalytic activity, achieving 83.6% TC degradation within 120 min at 5 mg L−1 TC, 200 mg L− 1 catalyst loading, and pH 10. The degradation followed pseudo-first-order (PFO) kinetics with a rate constant of 0.01509 min− 1. Scavenger experiments suggested that •O2 − -related pathways exerted the strongest influence, while •OH and h+ also contributed to TC transformation. The catalyst retained 77.1% degradation efficiency after three cycles, indicating preliminary reusability under the tested conditions. This work advances the field by linking FeBVO: CN composition with structural features, optical response, photocatalytic activity, reactive-species behavior, and practical operating constraints under low-intensity UVC irradiation. Mulliken-estimated band-edge positions, together with the scavenger results, supported a proposed Z-scheme-like charge-transfer pathway as the more thermodynamically consistent interpretation of the observed reactive-species behaviour.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -