A new S-scheme heterojunction of 1D ZnGa2O4/ZnO nanofiber for efficient photocatalytic degradation of TC-HCl

One-dimensional shaped ZnGa2O4, ZnO and ZnGa2O4/ZnO nanofibers were successfully prepared by electrostatic spinning technique and the photocatalytic degradation performance of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) were studied. It was found that the S-scheme heterojunction formed in the ZnGa2O4/ZnO could greatly reduce the recombination of the photogenerated carriers and therefore improve the photocatalytic performance. By optimizing the ratio of the ZnGa2O4 and ZnO, the largest degradation rate could reach 0.0573 min−1, which was 20 times of the self-degradation rate of TC-HCl. It was verified that the h+ played the key role in the reactive groups for the high performance decomposition of TC-HCl by capture experiments. This work provides a new method for the highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of TC-HCl. •One-dimensional nanofibes ZnGa2O4, ZnO and ZnGa2O4/ZnO composites were successful synthesized via electrospinning technique.•ZnGa2O4/ZnO nanofiber showed remarkable performance for TC-HCl photocatalytic degradation.•S-scheme heterojunction facilitated the carrier separation rapidly.•The hole radicals play a significant role in the photocatalysis.