Fabrication of CuFe2O4/Bi12O17Cl2 photocatalyst with intrinsic p-n junction for highly efficient bisphenol A degradation

The construction and application of novel highly efficient photocatalysts have been the focus in the field of environmental pollutant removal . In this work, a novel CuFe 2 O 4 /Bi 12 O 17 Cl 2 photocatalysts were synthesized by simple hydrothermal and chemical precipitation method. The fabricated CuFe 2 O 4 /Bi 12 O 17 Cl 2 composite exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity than pristine CuFe 2 O 4 and Bi 12 O 17 Cl 2 in the removal of bisphenol A (BPA) under visible-light illumination, which ascribed to the intrinsic p-n junction of CuFe 2 O 4 and Bi 12 O 17 Cl 2 . The photocatalytic degradation rate of BPA on CuFe 2 O 4 /Bi 12 O 17 Cl 2 with an optimized CuFe 2 O 4 content (1.0 wt.%) reached 93.0% within 30 min. The capture experiments of active species confirmed that the hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and superoxide radicals (•O 2 − ) played crucial roles in photocatalytic BPA degradation process. Furthermore, the possible degradation mechanism and pathways of BPA was proposed according to the detected intermediates in photocatalytic reaction process.