Construction of Au and C60 quantum dots modified materials of Institute Lavoisier-125(Ti) architectures for antibiotic degradation: Performance, toxicity assessment, and mechanistic insight.

High-performance and stabilized photocatalytic degradation of antibiotic contaminants still remains a challenge in environmental photocatalysis and has been studied worldwide. In this work, hybrid Au and C60 quantum dots decorated Materials of Institute Lavoisier-125(Ti) (MIL-125(Ti)) composites were successfully fabricated for visible-light photocatalytic tetracycline degradation with pristine MIL-125(Ti) as a comparison. The experimental results revealed that the introduction of C60 quantum dots and Au nanoparticles resulted in highly enhanced visible-light harvesting and charge separation for efficient tetracycline degradation. The optimal Au/C60-MIL-125(Ti)-1.0% sample exhibited the highest visible-light photocatalytic performance, and the corresponding rate constant was approximately 9.19 times of MIL-125(Ti), indicating the significant roles of Au and C60 quantum dots in boosting visible-light absorption and charge separation. Furthermore, the radical species, possible degradation pathways and toxicity assessment, and photocatalytic mechanism were also investigated. Current work indicates a synergistic strategy for enhancing visible-light harvesting and charge separation to fabricate high-performance composite photocatalysts.