Antibiotic pollution is a major health issue inducing antibiotic resistance and the inefficiency of actual drugs, thus calling for improved methods to clean water and wastewater. Here we review the recent development of heterojunction photocatalysis and application in degrading tetracycline. We discuss mechanisms for separating photogenerated electron–hole pairs in different heterojunction systems such as traditional, p–n, direct Z-scheme, step-scheme, Schottky, and surface heterojunction. Degradation pathways of tetracycline during photocatalysis are presented. We compare the efficiency of tetracycline removal by various heterojunctions using quantum efficiency, space time yield, and figures of merit. Implications for the treatment of antibiotic-contaminated wastewater are discussed.

抗生素污染是一个主要的健康问题，会导致抗生素耐药性和实际药物的低效，因此需要改进清洁水和废水的方法。本文综述了异质结光催化的最新进展及其在降解四环素方面的应用。我们讨论了不同异质结系统中光生电子空穴对的分离机制，例如传统、p-n、直接 Z 型、阶梯型、肖特基和表面异质结。介绍了光催化过程中四环素的降解途径。我们使用量子效率、时空产率和品质因数比较了各种异质结去除四环素的效率。讨论了抗生素污染废水处理的影响。