In-situ deposition of β-FeOOH nanoparticles on commercially available filter paper for fast and efficient removal of antibiotic

Enhancing the dispersibility and recoverability of powdered catalysts is essential for developing efficient and cost-effective photocatalytic systems. Herein, β-FeOOH nanoparticles were in-situ deposited on commercially available filter paper (FP) to construct paper-based composite material (β-FeOOH@FP). Results showed that the rod-like β-FeOOH nanoparticles were uniformly distributed in the FP matrix without destroying the crystalline structure of cellulose. The resulting β-FeOOH synthesized at 3 h presented the highest photoelectrochemical response and exhibited better suppression of electron–hole recombination, allowing more photogenerated electrons to participate in the reaction. The β-FeOOH@FP catalyst achieved a 94.1% photocatalytic degradation rate of tetracycline (TC) within 120 min compared to the pure β-FeOOH (42.2%) and FP (20.1%) under simulated visible light irradiation. Photocatalytic degradation kinetics also demonstrated that the rate constant of β-FeOOH@FP was 9.6 × 10−3 min−1, much higher than that of others. In addition, the resulting β-FeOOH@FP composite material exhibited excellent stability and reusability with a photocatalytic efficiency of over 90% after five cycles. These findings provide a simple and cost-effective strategy to improve the degradation performance of powdered semiconductor catalysts and pave a new way to develop cellulose-based nanocomposites with high photocatalytic efficiency.