Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic properties of In 2.77 S 4 /Ti 3 C 2 composites.

Recently, the problem of water pollution, caused by antibiotics, is becoming more and more serious. Photocatalysis is one of the promising technologies for removing antibiotics from water. Herein, the In 2.77 S 4 /Ti 3 C 2 composites were prepared by an in-situ hydrothermal growth method for photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC). The as-developed composites were characterized by various methods. The UV-Vis DRS spectra reveals that the introduction of Ti 3 C 2 makes the bandgap of the as-prepared composites smaller and the visible light absorption ability improved. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the as-prepared composite is enhanced under visible light illumination. It is shown as first increasing and then decreasing with increasing the content of Ti 3 C 2 in the composite and reaches to the maximum of 89.3% in 90 min, which is higher than 75.1% of In 2.77 S 4 and 6.7% of Ti 3 C 2 . The reason of improvement is the interface between In 2.77 S 4 and Ti 3 C 2 is tightly combined to form a heterojunction. Moreover, the photocurrent intensity of the as-obtained composite is improved, while its Nyquist arc radius is decreased. In addition, holes are the main active species and ·OH and ·O 2 - play an auxiliary role during the degradation of TC.