Abstract
Heterojunction structures have attracted considerable attention for enhancing electron migration across interfaces. In this report, ZnBi2O4–ZnS(12%) heterojunction photocatalysts was found to be capable of degrading over 94% of indigo carmine in a 15 mg/L solution within 90 min of visible light irradiation at a catalytic dose of 1.0 g/L and pH 4. Furthermore, more than 82% of the total organic carbon (TOC) was removed, confirming the almost complete mineralization of the indigo carmine by ZnBi2O4–ZnS(12%). Moreover, the photocatalyst exhibited high stability and retained its photocatalytic activity up to the 5th cycle of operation without photocorrosion. The dramatic enhancement in the visible-light photocatalytic performance of the ZnBi2O4–ZnS heterojunctions over pristine ZnBi2O4 and ZnS was due to the formation of a superior heterojunction between the n-type semiconductor, ZnS, and the p-type semiconductor, ZnBi2O4. This heterojunction facilitated the separation and transfer of the photoinduced electron at the interfaces of the two semiconductors. Furthermore, the ZnBi2O4–ZnS(12%) exhibited an inhibition zone of 15 mm against fecal Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739), with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 150 μg/mL. These results demonstrated that the novel ZnBi2O4–ZnS p–n-type heterojunction is a promising visible-light active photo-catalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants and inhibition of fecal E. coli.
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Acknowledgements
This work is supported by Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) under grant number CSCL 14.02/22-23.
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BTH: investigation, visualization. PTN, NTTV, DNNK, NTMT, NQT, DTS, and BQM: validation, investigation. NTKP: conceptualization, resources, writing-original draft, writing-review and editing, supervision. All authors read, commented, and approved the final manuscript.
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Huy, B.T., Nhi, P.T., Vy, N.T.T. et al. Design of novel p–n heterojunction ZnBi2O4-ZnS photocatalysts with impressive photocatalytic and antibacterial activities under visible light. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 84471–84486 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21810-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21810-w