Z-scheme cobalt-iron oxide/perylene diimide supermolecule heterojunction for high-efficiency ciprofloxacin removal in a photocatalysis-self-Fenton system

Fenton technology has been famous on antibiotics removal, but seriously restricted by the extra addition of H 2 O 2 and low mineralization efficiency. Herein, we develop a novel cobalt-iron oxide/perylene diimide organic supermolecule (CoFeO/PDIsm) Z-scheme heterojunction under photocatalysis-self-Fenton system, in which the holes (h + ) of photocatalyst can mineralize organic pollutants and the photo-generated electrons (e − ) are used to in-situ H 2 O 2 production with high efficiency. The CoFeO/PDIsm exhibits superior in-situ H 2 O 2 production at a rate of 281.7 µmol g −1 h −1 in contaminating solution, correspondingly of total organic carbon (TOC) removal rate of ciprofloxacin (CIP) is 63.7 %, far exceeding current photocatalysts. The high H 2 O 2 production rate and remarkable mineralization ability are ascribed to great charge separation in Z-scheme heterojunction. This work provides a novel Z-scheme heterojunction with photocatalysis-self-Fenton system for environmental-friendly removing the organic containment.