Flower-like ZnFe2O4/BiOI type p-n heterojunction nanorods facilitating the efficient degradation of tetracycline

Given the accelerated pace of industrial development and the escalating issue of water pollution, the development of high-efficiency and energy-saving materials for the degradation of organic pollutants is imperative. Consequently, the development of heterojunction photocatalytic materials has emerged as one of the most promising strategies. In this study, n-type semiconductor ZnFe 2 O 4 nanorods and p-type semiconductor BiOI nanoflowers were utilized to construct a type p-n heterojunction ZnFe 2 O 4 /BiOI, exhibiting a significantly larger specific surface area of 38.72 m 2 /g, which is 4.6 times greater than that of ZnFe 2 O 4 (8.30 m 2 /g). The density functional theory calculations reveal that the formation of the heterojunction substantially improves the electron transport efficiency and markedly suppresses the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers, primarily due to the establishment of a p-n heterostructure. Moreover, the degradation efficiency of tetracycline achieved an impressive rate of 94.8 %. The degradation efficiency remained above 90 % following three photocatalytic reaction cycle tests.