%A J.-C. Sin
%A S.-M. Lam
%A H. Zeng
%A H. Lin
%A H. Li
%A L. Huang
%A S.-J. Liaw
%A A.R. Mohamed
%A J.-W. Lim
%V 22
%T Construction of visible light-driven Eu-doped BiOBr hierarchical microflowers for ameliorated photocatalytic 2,4-dichlorophenol and pathogens decomposition with synchronized hexavalent chromium reduction
%J Materials Today Sustainability
%L scholars18531
%O cited By 17
%R 10.1016/j.mtsust.2023.100340
%D 2023
%X 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
%K Bacillus cereus; Bacteriology; Bromine compounds; Chromium compounds; Decomposition; Energy utilization; Escherichia coli; Europium; Photocatalytic activity; Wastewater treatment,  reductions; 2,4-dichlorophenol degradation; Antimicrobial; Cr(VI) reduction; Dichlorophenols; Microflowers; Photo-activities; Photo-catalytic; Reactive species; Visible-light-driven, Bismuth compounds