Enhanced performance of a magnetic photocatalyst regulated using a magnetic field.

[Display omitted] • The ZnFe 2 O 4 /AgBr brings high magnetic field effect. • The introduction of magnetic field can further improve the transfer of carriers. • ZnFe 2 O 4 /AgBr with negative MR shows high photocatalytic activity under magnetic field. • ZnFe 2 O 4 /AgBr has high adsorption capacity and efficient magnetic separation. A ZnFe 2 O 4 /AgBr magnetic photocatalyst was constructed to simply the structure of the Z-scheme photocatalyst, and further enhance the photocatalytic activity using the magnetoresistance (MR) effect of the system and an external magnetic field. The photocurrent density of ZnFe 2 O 4 /AgBr was 75.1 μA/cm2, which was higher than that of pure ZnFe 2 O 4 (47.6 μA/cm2). Whereas the photocurrent density of pure ZnFe 2 O 4 did not notably change under a magnetic field, that of ZnFe 2 O 4 /AgBr clearly increased to 151.8 μA/cm2 under a magnetic field of 1000 Oe. The MR results demonstrated that ZnFe 2 O 4 /AgBr had a more negative MR than ZnFe 2 O 4 did, therefore, the transfer of photogenerated carriers for ZnFe 2 O 4 /AgBr was quicker under the magnetic field. The existence of this magnetic field-enhanced effect can replace the role of the electron transfer bridge, and simply the Z-scheme structure. In addition, the photodegradation activity of ZnFe 2 O 4 /AgBr for organic pollutants also got obvious enhancement under the magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]