The global environmental crisis is intensified by emerging pollutants including Bisphenol A (BPA), which leads to serious threats to the health of ecosystems and humans. To solve the above-mentioned problems, graduate students in environmental engineering must have innovative thinking and technical proficiency. Hence, it is vital to cultivate innovative graduate students through whole-process design of scientific experiments. This study focuses on enabling graduate students to comprehend the structure-performance relationships of bismuth oxyhalides (BiOBr and BiOI) for BPA removal. These practical experiences effectively cultivate critical thinking, technical proficiency and problem-solving skills of graduate students.

The experiment is structured into three phases: material synthesis, characterization, and performance evaluation. BiOBr and BiOI are synthesized by graduate students using microwave-assisted synthesis. For the preparation of BiOBr, bismuth nitrate pentahydrate is dissolved in a 10% glycol solution, followed by potassium bromide (KBr) was added to the solution and mixed. The mixture was microwave-heated at 160 ℃. By a similar method, potassium iodide (KI) was substituted for potassium bromide to prepare BiOI. After synthesis, materials were washed, dried, and characterized. Crystallinity and chemical composition are confirmed by XRD and FT-IR. Morphological differences revealed by SEM/TEM showed BiOI nanosheets (~25 nm) and BiOBr nanosheets (~62 nm). Optical and electrochemical analyses (UV-vis DRS, PL, Mott-Schottky) elucidated the bandgap structures and charge dynamics. Photocatalytic degradation of BPA (10 mg·L^–1) is conducted under a 500 W xenon lamp. Degradation efficiency is monitored via UV-vis spectrophotometry at 278 nm. Reactive species ( $·O_2^{-}$, h⁺, e^–) are identified using scavengers like tert-butanol. The graduate students conducted systematic correlation analysis to elucidate the relationship between material properties (e.g., band gap, morphology) and degradation performance.

The results showed that BiOI achieved 88% BPA degradation efficiency within 120 min, which was significantly superior to that of BiOBr (28%). The corresponding conduction band potentials (ECB) of BiOBr and BiOI were 0.21 eV and 0.39 eV, respectively, while the valence band potentials (EVB) were 2.45 eV for BiOBr and 1.32 eV for BiOI, indicating that BiOI has a narrower bandgap compared to BiOBr. The superior degradation performance of BiOI over BiOBr was mainly due to the shorter band gap of BiOI, which facilitated the generation of a greater number of reactive oxygen species such as $·O_2^{-}$, e^–, and h⁺ during the photocatalytic process.

Implementing the whole-process design of scientific research experiments demonstrates that this closed-loop system integrates all stages, from design to hypothesis validation. This comprehensive approach includes the development and implementation of experimental plans, precise data collection and analysis, and validation of results through iterative feedback. By participating in this whole process, graduate students are able to develop key skills such as experimental design, problem solving, and technical proficiency. The closed-loop system not only promotes independent thinking and systematic research habits, but also encourages graduate students to critically evaluate their own hypotheses and optimize research methods based on empirical evidence. As a result, the process fosters students’ abilities to think critically, innovate, and contribute substantively to their field of study.

Laboratory safety is a fundamental prerequisite for scientific researcher to conduct research experiments effectively. Environmental laboratories, which support interdisciplinary research in areas such as wastewater treatment, air pollution control, environmental microbiology, and environmental chemistry, are particularly critical. These facilities play a vital role in developing graduate students’ practical, innovative, and scientific research competencies. In recent years, the continuous expansion of graduate enrollment has led to a corresponding increase in the scale of environmental research laboratories. Concurrently, the variety and quantity of hazardous reagents, such as trinitrophenol, trinitrobenzene, and nitrocellulose, have risen significantly. Improper management or non-compliance with operational protocols in these laboratories can result in serious safety and regulatory violations, potentially leading to accidents such as explosions, poisoning, burns, or fires. Given these risks, this study examines key issues in safety standardization and management within environmental graduate research laboratories, aiming to enhance operational safety and regulatory compliance.

There are many existed problems for the safety specification and management of environmental graduate scientific research laboratories in Guangxi University, including the lack of early laboratories planning, aging facilities and insufficient space. In addition, there are short of sufficient and dedicated laboratory safety staffs, which cause the graduate student tutors and graduate students are insufficient awareness of dynamic safety challenges in interdisciplinary research fields. Moreover, both these graduate student tutors and graduate students face heavy research tasks and cannot take sufficient time to rectify the safety problems in research laboratories. These above-mentioned reasons have brought various types, large quantities and difficult rectification of safety hidden troubles. Therefore, there are major problems in environmental graduate scientific research laboratories such as chaotic spatial zoning, incomplete safety management systems and poor effectiveness of safety education. In combination with the specific safety issues existing in the environmental laboratories of Guangxi University, three strategies and a series of practical safety management standards are proposed from the aspects of laboratory safety education and training. It mainly includes institutional guarantees, experimental reagents & equipment management, waste supervision & management. These specific measures include: safety regulation management Firstly, Guangxi University pays more attention to the flexibility and multi-functionality of laboratory layout; Secondly, our university continuously optimize safety measures including fire prevention, explosion prevention, and gas defense. Thirdly, the professional laboratory staffs regularly conduct laboratory safety regulations inspections every month, supervise teachers and students to strictly abide by the laboratory safety regulations management system.

Now Guangxi University has form a “standardization-implementation-inspection-rectification-recheck” safety management mode. Finally, we introduce digital supported management methods in the background of rapid technological development. Guangxi University has comprehensively improved the safety management level of environmental graduate scientific research laboratories: optimizing the functional space design of laboratories, establishing the digital safety standard management system and introducing high-quality hardware resources for scenario-based safety training such as intelligent management, virtual simulation, science popularization emergency scenario exercises and VR training.

The study provides a theoretical reference for improving the safety management system of research laboratories of environmental category, strengthening laboratory safety level and ensuring the property safety of teachers and students. These optimized safety standards management not only helps to ensure the safety of public property and teachers & students, but also serves as an important guarantee for promoting the in-depth development of scientific research. It can provide reference for the standardized construction and management of research laboratories in sister universities.