Construction of coral reef-like transition/rare earth metal oxide-supported gC3N4-based nanocomposite: A new approach for enhanced visible light-assisted photocatalytic removal of orange G dye

Abstract

Industrial wastewater contains harmful substances such as antibiotics, chemical fertilizers, heavy metals, dyes, and pesticides. Photocatalysis is a simple and efficient way to remove these pollutants using visible light. The study reports the potential enhancement of ZnO's photocatalytic activity with Dy2O3 supported on a 2-dimensional coral reef-like nanostructure. ZnO is also safer and more affordable, making it a good choice for improved photocatalytic and antimicrobial applications. In a standard synthesis, metal and rare earth metal nitrates were combined with a 2D carbon-based material and synthesized using co-precipitation. FE-SEM and XRD were utilized to characterize the DZG nanocomposite, revealing its morphology and crystallinity. FT-IR analysis detected the presence of the M-O bond, and the band gap was measured using UV-DRS analysis. The as-prepared nanocomposite exhibited enhanced photocatalytic capabilities under visible light irradiation for degrading orange G dye (OG). The preliminary and kinetic studies have confirmed that the prepared DZG nanocomposite exhibits increased photocatalytic activity. Results indicate that DZG has better photocatalytic activity (PCA) than g-C3N4, and the reaction followed pseudo-first-order degradation kinetics. The f-shells in dysprosium oxide trap the excited electrons, extend the electron-hole pair (EHP) recombination process, and enhance photocatalytic activity. The UV–visible spectroscopy measurements showed that the DZG 1:25 nanocomposite completely degraded OG in the water.