Ag, Ni bimetallic supported g-C3N4 2D/Cd2Sb2O6.8 pyrochlore interface photocatalyst for efficient removal of organic pollutants

Abstract

To improve the efficiency of Cd2Sb2O6.8 pyrochlore catalyst, a novel Schottky barrier influenced Ag, Ni Bimetallic supported g-C3N4 /Cd2Sb2O6.8 material was synthesized. To study the Ag, Ni metallic deposition over the g-C3N4 /Cd2Sb2O6.8, it has been subjected to several characterization techniques such as UV–Vis DRS, HR-TEM, EDS and SAED. The obtained results reveal that the Bimetal deposition acts as a co-catalysts over the g-C3N4/Cd2Sb2O6.8 heterostructure, which increases the absorption of light towards the visible region and separation of photogenerated carriers. The photoremoval efficiency of the materials was investigated with Ciprofloxacin and 4-Nitro phenol as model pollutants under direct sun light irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation rate of the model pollutants using Ag, Ni supported g-C3N4/Cd2Sb2O6.8 was higher compared than pristine g-C3N4 and Cd2Sb2O6.8 materials. The fresh and photo-irradiated ciprofloxacin samples were analyzed by the LC–MS spectra, which further confirms the successful degradation of the organic molecules. It is believed that, the bimetallic catalyst loading on g-C3N4/Cd2Sb2O6.8 material leads to the formation of Schottky barrier and SPR effect, which plays a major role in the efficient degradation of organic pollutants. The probable photo-removal mechanism has been proposed based on the results of trapping experiment. The prepared samples shows the desirable cyclic ability, that will helps to design the photocatalyst based on pyrochore materials and their compositions, which provides a new pathway to increase the degradation efficiency for organic pollutants.