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

Caihong Zhang,Xiaoyu Han,Lijuan Wang,Fei Wang,Jinsheng Liang

doi:10.3389/fchem.2021.736369

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.

Highlights

With the rapid expansion of pharmaceutical industry and breeding industry, the pollution of antibiotics and mycotoxins in the water environment has caused great concern. (Li et al, 2018; Das et al, 2020; Sun L. et al, 2020; Wang J. et al, 2020; Zhang et al, 2020)
The photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared samples was evaluated by the removal efficiency of TCH under visible light irradiation. 0.1 g of catalyst was dispersed into 100 ml of TCH solution (20 mg/L)
18.25°, 29.66°, 35.30°, 42.83°, 52.94°, 56.71° and 62.35° in curve of ZnFe2O4 correspond to the planes (111), (220), (311), (400), (422) (511) and (440) of ZnFe2O4, respectively. It confirms that single phase ZnFe2O4 (JCPDS No 22-1012) with cubic spinel structure were synthesized successfully (Ma et al, 2019; Madhukara Naik et al, 2019)

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid expansion of pharmaceutical industry and breeding industry, the pollution of antibiotics and mycotoxins in the water environment has caused great concern. (Li et al, 2018; Das et al, 2020; Sun L. et al, 2020; Wang J. et al, 2020; Zhang et al, 2020). The photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared samples was evaluated by the removal efficiency of TCH under visible light irradiation. The sepiolite nanofibers in the composite might act as a good medium for the migration of photogenerated carriers in the reaction process, thereby reducing the recombination rate of photogenerated electrons and holes to increase the photocatalytic efficiency (Liu et al, 2015).

Results

Conclusion