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Magnetic Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 Z-scheme heterojunction material for photocatalytic decomposition of ofloxacin

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Abstract

A magnetic composite catalyst, Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4, was successfully synthesized using a combination of solvothermal and hydrothermal techniques with CoFe2O4 as the base material. The crystal structure, morphology and properties of the Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 composite catalyst were characterized by various instrumental analysis methods. The photocatalytic activity of this composite catalyst was evaluated using ofloxacin (OFX) degradation. The study revealed that the Z-type heterojunction structure was formed by loading the body-centered cubic Ag3PO4 onto the surface of spinel cobalt ferrite CoFe2O4, and this structure can accelerate the recombination of invalid electron–hole pairs and facilitate the separation of valid charge carriers. The visible light catalytic activity of Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 composite catalyst was found to have improved significantly. The degradation effect of Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 composite catalyst on OFX was significantly better than that of pure Ag3PO4 and CoFe2O4, with 4% Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 showing the best possible effect. The degradation rate of OFX could reach up to 95.9% under visible light for 2.5 h, and the degradation process followed the first-order kinetic reaction model. The magnetic properties of the Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 composite catalyst make it easy to enable magnetic separation, recovery, and recycling of the catalyst without secondary contamination after the reaction.

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Funding

Nanyang City science and technology development plan project, KJGG218, Guangling Zuo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Nanyang Institute of Technology, Nanyang, 473000, China

    Hongyong Ye, Lingyun Xia, Yanfei Wang, Hao Zhou, Xinying Xie, Guangling Zuo & Keliang Wu

  2. Henan Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbial Resources and Fermentation Technology, Nanyang, 473000, China

    Hongyong Ye, Guangling Zuo & Keliang Wu

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  1. Hongyong Ye
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  2. Lingyun Xia
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  3. Yanfei Wang
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  4. Hao Zhou
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Contributions

HY, LX and YWcontributed to investigation, data curation, formal analysis, and investigation and writing. HZ, XX, and KW contributed to visualization and Formal analysis. GZ contributed to supervision, funding acquisition, writing-review and editing. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hongyong Ye.

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Ye, H., Xia, L., Wang, Y. et al. Magnetic Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 Z-scheme heterojunction material for photocatalytic decomposition of ofloxacin. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 2090 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-11567-4

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