A novel α-Fe2O3@g-C3N4 catalyst: Synthesis derived from Fe-based MOF and its superior photo-Fenton performance.

Graphical abstract Highlights • α-Fe 2 O 3 @g-C 3 N 4 catalyst was synthesized by a facile co-calcination. • It showed excellent photo-Fenton catalytic activity in a wide range of pH. • The high catalytic activity of the catalyst is due to its Z-scheme heterostructure. Abstract Fabricating heterojunction catalysts is a promising strategy for improving the performance in heterogeneous photo-Fenton reaction (PFR). Herein, a Z-scheme heterostructured α-Fe 2 O 3 @g-C 3 N 4 catalyst was successfully synthesized through the co-calcination of melamine and Fe-based MOF. The characterization results demonstrated that α-Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles anchored on the surface of g-C 3 N 4 successfully. The degradation of tetracycline (TC) in visible-light/H 2 O 2 system was adopted to evaluate the photo-Fenton activity of the catalysts. About 92% of TC was degraded by the optimum composite FOCN-0.45 in 60 min; the degradation rate (0.042 min−1) of TC by the FOCN-0.45 is 6, 7 and 14 times higher than that by pristine MIL-53 (Fe) (0.007 min−1), α-Fe 2 O 3 (0.006 min−1) and g-C 3 N 4 (0.003 min−1), respectively. The prepared FOCN-0.45 composite exhibited excellent performance and high stability in a wide range of pH value. The promoted photo-Fenton catalytic efficiency benefited from the Z-scheme heterojunctions of α-Fe 2 O 3 @g-C 3 N 4 , which enhanced the separation ability of photo-generated charge carriers and increased the electrons that participated in Fe2+/Fe3+ cycle. The boosting OH radicals degraded organic pollutants as main reactive radicals. This work presents a feasible path to design and synthesize heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalysts for the removal of organic pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]