<p>The residual antibiotics in the water environment pose a great threat to the ecological environment and human life safety. However, an effective and environmentally friendly method for degrading antibiotics is still lacking. Herein, a novel Bi₂WO₆ catalyst with optimized morphology and abundant crystal defects was designed to remove tetracycline. The experimental results showed that the generation of grain boundaries and dislocations were induced through the epitaxial growth method, which endowed Bi₂WO₆ with rapid separation and transfer of photoinduced electrons. Moreover, the specific surface area and light adsorption capacity of optimized catalyst (0.5Bi-Bi) were significantly improved. As a result, 0.5Bi-Bi exhibited the excellent photocatalytic performance, which degraded 90.78% of TC within 40&#xa0;min under visible light illumination. Meanwhile, the synthesized 0.5Bi–Bi catalyst has robust photocatalytic stability and sustainability. The capture experiment proved that ⋅O₂⁻ was the prime active substance, and a possible mechanism of photodegradation of TC was proposed.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>