In situ imprinted cavity fabrication within BiOBr@porphyrin composites for selective and efficient degradation of trace norfloxacin

Abstract

In this work, molecularly imprinted BiOBr@porphyrin composites (BiOBr@TAPP-MIP) were prepared by directly introducing imprinted cavities within the porphyrin-based framework, achieving in situ imprinted cavities for both the selective adsorption and efficient degradation of trace norfloxacin in water. The SEM, XPS, and XRD characterization results revealed the successful synthesis of a porphyrin-based imprinting layer on the surface of BiOBr. The optical characterization confirmed a substantial improvement in visible-light absorption and separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs for BiOBr@TAPP-MIP compared to pure BiOBr. Accordingly, the adsorption and photodegradation experiments indicated that the in situ imprinted BiOBr@TAPP-MIP had larger adsorption capacity (181.1 mg g⁻¹) and enhanced photodegradation performance for norfloxacin when compared to the non-imprinted BiOBr@TAPP-NIP. Compared with competitive pollutants, the selectivity coefficients for norfloxacin reached 1.77 for adsorption and 1.08 for degradation. Moreover, BiOBr@TAPP-MIP maintained high stability and excellent photodegradation performance in a variety of complex water environments. The in situ imprinted method proposed here has the potential to serve as a facile and universal approach for efficiently dealing with a broader range of trace pollutants.