Removal of MCs by Bi2O2CO3: adsorption and the potential of photocatalytic degradation.

Microcystins (MCs) is a kind of hepatotoxin, which is the secondary metabolite of cyanobacteria. Bi2O2CO3 (BOC) is a kind of cheap and nontoxic semiconductor material. BOC was synthetized by solvothermal method and then microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and microcystin-RR (MC-RR) were removed by BOC, through adsorption and photocatalytic degradation. When the dosage of BOC is 6 g/L, the MC-LR and MC-RR in the natural water sample can be completely adsorbed in 30 min and then after 12 h irradiation, MC-LR and MC-RR were photocatalytically degraded by BOC.