In situ synthesis of flower-structured ZnO@YFC for the efficient piezocatalytic degradation of tetracycline wastewater: Degradation mechanism and toxicity evolution

Antibiotic wastewater has attracted significant attention in recent years. In this study, a novel biochar-based piezocatalyst with a nanoflower structure was synthesized using a method involving the in situ growth of ZnO on a Yang flocculant. The piezoelectric degradation rate of tetracycline was 89.07% after 20 min, and the first-order kinetic constant was 0.682 min(-1). Density functional theory calculations showed that the high catalytic activity of ZnO@YCF resulted from its excellent electron transport ability. Radical quenching and electron paramagnetic resonance results showed that (OH)-O-center dot and (center dot)O(2)(- )radicals were the main radicals involved in TC degradation, with contributions of 58.78% and 37.39%, respectively. A possible TC degradation pathway was proposed based on intermediate studies. Moreover, aquatic toxicity migration was evaluated during the TC degradation process using an ecological structure-activity relationship model. This study proposes a new concept and an efficient way to reuse biomass waste.

Automated summary

A novel biochar-based piezocatalyst with a nanoflower structure was synthesized for the treatment of antibiotic wastewater. The catalyst showed high efficiency in degrading tetracycline and the degradation pathway was proposed based on intermediate studies. The ecological structure-activity relationship model was used to evaluate the aquatic toxicity migration.