LAUSR

Abstract The Ag/AgCl/ZnFe2O4 photocatalysts were fabricated through a hydrothermal method. The structure and composition of the Ag/AgCl/ZnFe2O4 photocatalysts were confirmed by XRD, SEM, XPS, UV–vis. The rhodamine B (RhB) and the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) were selected as the target pollutants to evaluate the photocatalytic degradation ability. The degradation efficiency of the optimized molar ratios of Ag/AgCl/ZnFe2O4 samples was about 1.47 times as high as that of Ag/AgCl in degrading RhB and about 2.3 times compared to that of Ag/AgCl in degrading BPA. Meanwhile, the Ag/AgCl/ZnFe2O4 also displayed much higher antibacterial ability than the Ag/AgCl. The photocurrent, EIS, PL analysis indicated that the enhanced electron-hole pair separation efficiency and better electron transfer performance of the composite leading to the higher degradation efficiency. The cycle experiment result indicated that the Ag/AgCl/ZnFe2O4 had good photocatalytic stability. Based on the ESR and trapping experiments results, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed. The Ag/AgCl/ZnFe2O4 composites showed potential application in purifying the water.