posted on 2024-08-02, 06:03authored byShaomang Wang, Haokang Wu, Jie Wang, Yuan Guan, Zhongyu Li, Shicheng Yan, Huan He
A novel ZnO/CuI/Cu foam electrode was constructed, which
demonstrated
excellent photoelectrocatalytic activity for the self-Fenton degradation
of tetracycline in water. The H2O2 yield was
405.0 μmol L–1 over ZnO/CuI/Cu foam (CIZ-3)
under light irradiation (100 mW cm–2) for 5 h at
−1.23 V (vs NHE), which was 1.7 times higher than that of ZnO/Cu
foam and 1.6 times higher than that of CuI/Cu foam, respectively.
The 99.0% of tetracycline was degraded by CIZ-3 due to its efficient
yield of H2O2 to self-catalyzed generation of •OH. The results of the open-circuit potential between
CuI and ZnO displayed that the electrons from the conduction band
of CuI flowed to ZnO and the holes from the valence band of ZnO migrated
to CuI. As a result, the photogenerated electron–hole pairs
of ZnO/CuI were efficiently separated, which greatly promoted the
photoelectrocatalytic activity of ZnO/CuI/foam. The toxicity of the
aqueous tetracycline solution was significantly reduced by observing
the growth of Escherichia coli in the
treated wastewater.