PPECu/NiFe2O4 as an efficient visible-light-driven difunctional photocatalyst for degradation of PPCPs and hydrogen production

A simple coprecipitation method has been used to prepare PPECu/NiFe2O4 composites. The as-prepared samples were studied by XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, EDS and UV–vis Drs. The loading of NiFe2O4 not only enhanced the visible light absorption intensity of composites, but also promoted the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Cocatalyst NiFe2O4 made the PPECu/NiFe2O4 composites possessed better activities for TC degradation and hydrogen production than pure PPECu. Among the composite photocatalysts, P-NFO-5 exhibited the highest activity with the degrade efficiency of 98% (20 min) and hydrogen evolution yield of 35.8 μmol/g (3.0 h) under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, a possible mechanism for the efficient PPECu/NiFe2O4 composite has been discussed.