Photo-Fenton removal of tetracycline hydrochloride using LaFeO3 as a persulfate activator under visible light

In this work, LaFeO3 nanoparticles were fabricated by a facile sol-gel method and applied to degrade tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) through heterogeneous activation of persulfate under visible-light illumination. The structure, compositions, photocatalytic properties, and morphological features of the as-obtained sample were investigated by XRD, XPS, DRS, and FESEM techniques. Optimizations of dosage of LaFeO3 (0–0.4 g/L), dosage of PS (0–4 g/L), concentration of TC-HCl (10 ppm–80 ppm), and pH of initial solution (2.09–9.59) were conducted. Radical trapping experiments indicated that SO4− was the dominant radical for TC-HCl removal while OH was also involved. In addition, LaFeO3 was proved with excellent stability and reusability in degrading TC-HCl molecules in the Vis/LaFeO3/PS system. The findings of this work revealed the potential application of the Vis/LaFeO3/PS system toward degrading organic pollutants in wastewater. •Photo-Fenton LaFeO3 catalyst was fabricated by a citric acid sol-gel method.•The Vis/LaFeO3/PS system was more effective in degrading TC-HCl than other systems.•SO4− was mainly responsible for the degradation of TC-HCl.