A Novel Direct Z-Scheme Heterojunction Bifeo3/Znfe2o4 Photocatalyst for Enhanced Photocatalyst Degradation Activity Under Visible Light Irradiation

In recent years, inhibition of photoinduced electron and hole recombination is considered as a breakthrough to improve the photocatalytic degradation of pollutants. In this study, we successfully loaded ZnFe 2 O 4 (ZFO) microsphere onto BiFeO 3 (BFO) microcubes by a simple hydrothermal method. Under the effect of heterojunction between BFO and ZFO, the recombination rate of electron and hole was decreased significantly, leading to the enhanced photocatalytic effect. Morphology analysis shows that ZFO and BFO interface are closely combined. The photocatalytic experiments show that the degradation efficiency of tetracycline and methylene blue by BFO/ZFO-10% composites are 1.63 and 1.38 times higher than that of pure BFO. In addition, four cycles of experiments also proved that BFO/ZFO-10% has good stability and excellent magnetic properties, making the sample easy to be recovered. A possible electron hole transfer path on the base of a direct Z-scheme mechanism was proposed. This study provides a useful guide toward the design of the highly efficient and magnetic collectable photocatalysts by the introduction of magnetic component and the construction of heterojunction, and as-synthesized BFO/ZFO was proved to be a promising photocatalyst for the elimination of toxic organic molecules in groundwater