Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole by stable hierarchical Fe_(2)O_(3)/Co_(3)O_(4) heterojunction on nickel foam

摘要

A facile approach was successfully employed to prepare Fe_(2)O_(3)/Co_(3)O_(4)nanosheet arrays on nickel foams(Fe_(2)O_(3)/Co_(3)O_(4)@NF),which owned such advantages as narrow band gap energies and high separation rate of photoexcited electron-hole pairs.The combination of Fe_(2)O_(3)and Co_(3)O_(4)dramatically enhanced the photocatalytic activity towards sulfamethoxazole(SMZ)degradation,with the highest catalytic efficiency of k=0.0538 min^(−1),which was much higher than that of Fe_(2)O_(3)@NF(0.0098 min^(−1))and Co_(3)O_(4)@NF(0.0094 min^(−1)).The introduction of Ni foam could not only act as the support to anchor photocatalyst,but also work as the electron mediator to promote the transition of electron-hole pairs.Reactive species trapping experiments combined with electron paramagnetic resonance analysis confirmed^(·)O^(-)_(2)−was primarily responsible for SMZ degradation.Furthermore,Fe_(2)O_(3)/Co_(3)O_(4)@NF was effective and almost unaffected by inorganic cations and anions in aqueous solution.This study could provide a facile and promising path for the construction of self-supported metal oxide-based heterojunction with high efficiency and strong stability.