A novel CeO2/MIL101(Fe) heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline under visible‐light irradiation. Issue 7 (14th March 2022) - Chen, Fangyan
Abstract: BACKGROUND: MIL101(Fe) has attracted growing attention as a potential new photocatalyst. However, the drawbacks of easy recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs result in unsatisfactory activity. RESULTS: In this work, to enhance the photocatalytic activity of MIL101(Fe), CeO2 nanorods were attached on the surface of octahedral MIL101(Fe) to obtain a novel 1D/3D heterojunction CeO2 /MIL101(Fe). The as‐synthesized samples were characterized by a series of methods. The photocatalytic activity of CeO2 /MIL101(Fe) was investigated by photodegradation of tetracycline under visible‐light irradiation. Compared with pristine CeO2 and MIL101(Fe), the as‐prepared CeO2 /MIL101(Fe) composite with CeO2 content of 10 wt% exhibited a superior photocatalytic activity, with a tetracycline (TC) degradation efficiency of 83.5% and a TOC removal rate of 55.7% within 120 min. CONCLUSION: The enhanced photocatalytic performance is attributed to the efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers resulting from the formation of type‐II heterojunction between CeO2 and MIL101(Fe). This work provides a new approach for the fabrication of MOF‐based photocatalysts with high activity. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).