Novel Fe2O3/Bi2O3/CeO2 heterojunction photocatalyst for wastewater treatment: Characterization, photocatalytic performance and mechanism study

[Display omitted] •Innovative Fe2O3/Bi2O3/CeO2 photocatalyst for TC degradation was synthesized.•20FeB/CeO2 was characterized using XRD, XPS, FE-SEM, EDS, TEM, and UV–vis.•Maximum TC degradation was found to be 99.35% under optimal condition.•Fe2O3/Bi2O3 loading, catalyst dosage, TC concentration, and pH were optimized.•OH and O2− are the main radicals contribute in TC degradation using 20FeB/CeO2. A novel ternary Fe2O3/Bi2O3/CeO2 (FeB/CeO2) heterojunction nanocomposite with different Fe2O3/Bi2O3 amounts on CeO2 (5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 wt%) was synthesized through a simple wet impregnation process. The properties of the synthesized nanocomposite were validated thorough XPS, XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, and EDS-Mapping analyses. This photocatalyst exhibited exceptional efficiency in the of Tetracycline’s (TC) photodegradation in comparison to individual Fe2O3, Bi2O3, and CeO2. The effect of Fe2O3/Bi2O3 loading on CeO2 and the influence of operational factors on TC decomposition including photocatalyst dosage (0.05–0.2 g/L), TC concentration (10–40 mg/L), and pH (1–11) were examined with the optimal conditions yielding an experimental degradation efficiency of 99.35 %. Moreover, scavenger tests showed that O2− and OH radicals served as the main oxidative radical species. The study further delved into proposing potential degradation pathways of TC in accordance with liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry analysis. Notably, the stability of the synthesized photocatalyst was assessed through five degradation cycles, affirming its sustained effectiveness.