Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline using hybrid Ag/Ag₂S@BiOI nanowires: Degradation mechanism and toxicity evaluation

The wide use of antibiotics has caused their continual release and persistence in the eco-system, subsequently giving birth to antibiotic resistant bacterial species in the aquatic environment, thereby necessitating immediate and efficient remediation of the contaminated environment. In the present study, we synthesized Ag/Ag₂S@BiOI nanowires with an average diameter of ∼150 nm and length of 3–5 μm using a hydrothermal method and employed them as photocatalysts for photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline as a model antibiotic. The nanowire achieved nearly complete degradation of tetracycline (∼99%) within 60 min at the optimal condition of 100 mg/L TC concentration and pH 2. The degradation followed pseudo-first order kinetics, with a rate constant of 0.06228 min^{− 1}. Our toxicity tests showed that the nanowire has negligible toxicity towards PBMC cells, suggesting it as a promising photocatalyst.