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A novel magnetic photocatalyst BiOBr/BiOCl/MnxZn1−xFe2O4: highly photocatalytic activity and excellent stability

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Abstract

A novel recyclable magnetic photocatalyst BiOBr/BiOCl/MnxZn1−xFe2O4 was fabricated by the low-cost hydrothermal method. The BiOBr/BiOCl with 10 wt% MnxZn1−xFe2O4 (BCB-10MZF) shows the highest visible photocatalytic efficiency that could degrade 96.3% Rhodamine B (RhB) wastewater. BCB-10MZF has a larger specific area (6.7 m2 g−1) with a narrow band gap (2.79 eV). Moreover, the BCB-10MZF in the external magnetic field can be recycled swiftly because of the high magnetization saturation (2.79 emu g−1). The degradation rate of RhB by BCB-10MZF still reaches 80% after reusing 4 times, verifying that BCB-10MZF has strong stability. During the RhB degradation process, the •O2− and h+ were identified as the dominant active species, and excellent photocatalytic properties of BCB-10MZF owing to the p–n heterojunction formation. This work demonstrates the novel BiOBr/BiOCl/MnxZn1−xFe2O4 is suitable for organic wastewater RhB treatment, and the enhancement mechanism of photocatalysis also offers great reference significance for the synthesis of other MZF-based magnetic semiconductor photocatalysts.

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Highlights

  • A low-cost hydrothermal method synthesized a novel catalyst BiOBr/BiOCl/MnxZn1−xFe2O4.

  • BiOBr/BiOCl/MnxZn1−xFe2O4 exhibits excellent photocatalytic degradation activity.

  • A possible photocatalytic enhancement mechanism is proposed.

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Author contributions

QF, QZ: Conceptualization, methodology and writing-original draft; QF, QZ, LM, SG, and RZ: Writing-review & editing; LX and CL: Resources and supervision; QF, QZ, and JM: Software; QZ: Data curation.

Funding

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52174157) supporting for this research.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Qi Feng, Qiyuan Zhang

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China

    Qi Feng, Qiyuan Zhang, Chenglun Liu, Shihao Gong, Ru Zhang, Jiawei Ma & Longjun Xu

  2. Department of Environmental Science and Forestry, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Lingjun Meng

  3. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China

    Chenglun Liu

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  1. Qi Feng
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Correspondence to Chenglun Liu or Longjun Xu.

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Feng, Q., Zhang, Q., Meng, L. et al. A novel magnetic photocatalyst BiOBr/BiOCl/MnxZn1−xFe2O4: highly photocatalytic activity and excellent stability. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 108, 490–501 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-023-06205-8

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