Abstract: In order to solve the problem of poor photocatalytic activity of traditional ZnO, band-like γ-Fe₂O₃/ZnO heterojunction photocatalyst was prepared by an one-pot method under hydrothermal conditions using Zn(CH₃COO)₂ and FeCl₃ as precursors in this paper. The chemical structure of as-prepared γ-Fe₂O₃/ZnO heterojunction photocatalyst was characterized by XRD, BET specific surface area tester, TEM, UV-Vis diffuse reflection and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The tetracycline photodegradation by the γ-Fe₂O₃/ZnO heterojunction photocatalyst with different loading of γ-Fe₂O₃ was explored under visible light. The results show that due to γ-Fe₂O₃ loading onto the ZnO, the specific surface area and light absorption significantly increase, while the band gap reduces. After visible light illumination about 120 minutes, the photodegradation ratio of tetracycline is up to 97.2% by γ-Fe₂O₃/ZnO heterojunction photocatalyst when n(Zn)∶n(Fe) (atomic ratio) is 20∶1, and the tetracycline photodegradation ratio remains above 95% after repeated use.