A highly efficient visible light driven Fenton catalyst α-FeOOH/BiOI to degrade RhB

The heterogeneous photo-Fenton process is still inhabited by the poor recycling of Fe(III)/Fe(II). Therefore, a visible light active α-FeOOH/BiOI catalyst was prepared by facile precipitation method. The synthesized photocatalysts were characterized by different methods, such as XRD, SEM, HR-TEM, XPS. Results showed that the loose flocculent of α-FeOOH covered on the BiOI particle. Rhodamine B was selected to evaluate the photocatalytic performance under visible-light irradiation in the presence of H₂O₂. The superior photocatalytic activity of 0.5 M-FeOOH/BiOI was obtained that 100% of RhB can be degraded within 20 min illumination. UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra and the photoluminescence measurements revealed that the 0.5 M-FeOOH/BiOI composite enhanced charge carrier separation in the way of Fe(III) consumed photo electron to form Fe(II). Simultaneously, the acceleration of Fe(III)/Fe(II) recycling is beneficial to catalyze H₂O₂ to form hydroxide radical (·OH). Photo stability further revealed that the 0.5 M-FeOOH/BiOI composite could be a promising material in wastewater treatment and other environmental remediation applications.