A Facile Fabrication of ZnFe2O4/Sepiolite Composite with Excellent Photocatalytic Performance on the Removal of Tetracycline Hydrochloride

Abstract

The excellent photo-response of ZnFe2O4 in the visible light region makes it a promising catalyst, whereas some defects like serious particle agglomeration and easy recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs hinder its application. In this work, the ZnFe2O4/sepiolite (ZF-Sep) composites were synthesized using a co-precipitation method. The obtained ZF-Sep composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, XPS, BET, VSM and DRS. Moreover, the photocatalytic performance was evaluated by the tetracycline hydrochloride removal efficiency under simulated visible light illumination. The results displayed that the ZnFe2O4 with average sizes about 20 nm were highly dispersed on sepiolite nanofibers. All the composites exhibited better photocatalytic performance than pure ZnFe2O4 due to the synergistic effect of the improvement on the agglomeration phenomenon of ZnFe2O4 and the reduction on the recombination rate of photo-generated electrons and holes. The optimum removal efficiency was that of the ZF-Sep-11 composite, which reached 93.6% within 3 h. Besides, the composite exhibited an excellent stability and reusability. Therefore, ZF-Sep composite is a promising catalyst for the treatment of wastewater contained antibiotics.

MOF-Derived Spindle-Shaped Z-Scheme ZnO/ZnFe2O4 Heterojunction: A Magnetic Recovery Catalyst for Efficient Photothermal Degradation of Tetracycline Hydrochloride

“…The ZZF2 samples showed the best photocatalytic activity, and the degradation rate reached 86.3% after 75 min of visible light irradiation. Figure 4b shows the reaction kinetics (k TCH ) of the prepared photocatalysts, and the experimental data conform to pseudo-first-order kinetics [43,51]:…”

“…Additionally, magnetism may also change the spin polarization of electrons and promote the separation of electron-hole pairs [43]. The Fe element in ZnFe 2 O 4 has the potential to be used in the Fenton reaction [45,47]; therefore, it is attracting increasing attention from researchers [48][49][50][51]. For example, Fei et al [52].…”

Removal of Emerging Organic Pollutants by Zeolite Mineral (Clinoptilolite) Composite Photocatalysts in Drinking Water and Watershed Water

“…To determine the intermediate products of the contaminant in the degradation process, LC-MS analysis is a useful method to analyze the degradation products and path. Most of the intermediate compounds could be identified by the position of the peaks of m/z [168][169][170] (Figure 14). However, other undetected organic small molecules may exist in the solution owing to the insufficient separation performance of the chromatography column and low residual concentration.…”

Construction of magnetic MoS2/NiFe2O4/MIL-101(Fe) hybrid nanostructures for separation of dyes and antibiotics from aqueous media

“…[10][11][12][13] Two types of well-known, available, and inexpensive antibiotics that are prescribed to ght infectious diseases, bacteria, fungi, and parasites in humans, livestock, and poultry are tetracycline and ciprooxacin, which can be detected in aquatic environments. [14][15][16][17] The presence of these compounds, due to their metabolic properties, lack of decomposition, and accumulation in the environment, has caused serious problems in the lives of biological species. Therefore, it is very important to remove such compounds from water sources.…”