relation: https://khub.utp.edu.my/scholars/18531/ title: Construction of visible light-driven Eu-doped BiOBr hierarchical microflowers for ameliorated photocatalytic 2,4-dichlorophenol and pathogens decomposition with synchronized hexavalent chromium reduction creator: Sin, J.-C. creator: Lam, S.-M. creator: Zeng, H. creator: Lin, H. creator: Li, H. creator: Huang, L. creator: Liaw, S.-J. creator: Mohamed, A.R. creator: Lim, J.-W. description: The presence of diverse environmental contaminants has posed unprecedented challenges to wastewater treatment. Herein, Eu-doped BiOBr hierarchical microflowers (Eu-BiOBr) were fabricated via a surfactant-free hydrothermal route as highly efficient photocatalysts for multipurpose wastewater remediation applications. Under visible light irradiation, the Eu-BiOBr products demonstrated meritorious photoactivity when exposed to the mixture solution of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and Cr(VI). Noticeably, 97.6 of 2,4-DCP was degraded after 80 min, and a complete Cr(VI) reduction was obtained within 60 min over the optimized 2 at Eu-BiOBr. This was ascribed to Eu-doping efficiently accelerated charge separation and migration, thus proliferating more reactive species and enhancing photocatalytic performance. Moreover, the 2 at Eu-BiOBr possessed good photoactivity after four successive runs, which confirmed its recyclability. Further, as an evaluation of electrical energy consumption, the 2 at Eu-BiOBr was found to be more economical in decomposing both 2,4-DCP and Cr(VI). The reactive species scavenging tests validated that the hydroxyl radical played a major role for the photodegradation of 2,4-DCP whereas photogenerated electron served as predominant reactive species for Cr(VI) to be reduced to Cr(III). Additionally, the 2 at Eu-BiOBr demonstrated much enhanced bactericidal activities against Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus compared to pristine BiOBr. These results revealed that the Eu-BiOBr can be employed as visible light-driven photocatalytic and antibacterial candidates for practical applications in environmental cleanup. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd date: 2023 type: Article type: PeerReviewed identifier: Sin, J.-C. and Lam, S.-M. and Zeng, H. and Lin, H. and Li, H. and Huang, L. and Liaw, S.-J. and Mohamed, A.R. and Lim, J.-W. (2023) Construction of visible light-driven Eu-doped BiOBr hierarchical microflowers for ameliorated photocatalytic 2,4-dichlorophenol and pathogens decomposition with synchronized hexavalent chromium reduction. Materials Today Sustainability, 22. relation: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85148547730&doi=10.1016%2fj.mtsust.2023.100340&partnerID=40&md5=e90cb8f283dc3574264a02a9c12026b7 relation: 10.1016/j.mtsust.2023.100340 identifier: 10.1016/j.mtsust.2023.100340