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Photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants by magnetic Ag3PO4/MFe2O4 (M = Zn, Ni, Co) composites: a comparative study and a new insight into mechanism

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Abstract

A two-step hydrothermal method was used to synthesize Ag3PO4/MFe2O4 (M = Zn, Ni, Co) composites, which were characterized in detail and employed as the visible light-response catalysts in the removal of different organic pollutants such as methyl orange (MO), methylene blue (MB), tetracycline (TC), and levofloxacin (LVF). Compared with Ag3PO4/ZnFe2O4 and Ag3PO4/NiFe2O4, Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 showed a higher photocatalytic performance because of its larger BET surface area and higher separation rate of charge carriers. After exposure to visible light for 40 min, the efficiency of MO degradation by optimized Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 reached 94.8%, and the degradation efficiency of MB, TC, and LVF was 99.0%, 80.5%, and 75.5% after 60 min, respectively. Only MO was selected as the target contaminant, the visible light-driven catalytic activity of Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 was slightly higher than that of pure Ag3PO4. The magnetic Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 can be easily recovered and its recyclability was superior to bare Ag3PO4. Due to the narrow bandgap of MFe2O4 (M = Zn, Ni, Co), the photoexcited holes and electrons cannot transfer to the surface of MFe2O4 and participate in photocatalytic reaction, thus the reactive species generated in Ag3PO4/MFe2O4 suspension were derived only from irradiated Ag3PO4. This study provided a new insight into the photocatalytic mechanism of Ag3PO4/MFe2O4 (M = Zn, Ni, Co).

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (B2019209373) and we thank the luobo lab (www.luobolab.com) for the characterization of catalysts used in this study.

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  1. College of Chemical Engineering, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, 063210, China

    Zheng Hu, Quanbao He & Ming Ge

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Correspondence to Ming Ge.

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Hu, Z., He, Q. & Ge, M. Photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants by magnetic Ag3PO4/MFe2O4 (M = Zn, Ni, Co) composites: a comparative study and a new insight into mechanism. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 827–842 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-020-04861-y

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