Construction of mesoporous ZnFe2O4-g-C3N4 nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of acridine orange dye under visible light illumination adopting soft- and hard-template-assisted routines

Abstract

In this investigation, triblock copolymer surfactant (F-108) as a soft template and mesoporous silica (MCM-41) as a hard template were endorsed to establish mesoporous ZnFe2O4-g-C3N4 nanocomposites of improved features. Photocatalytic remediation of acridine orange dye was endorsed to test the efficiency of the established nanocomposites when exposed to visible light. It has been affirmed by the surface characterization investigation that established nanocomposites acquired improved specific surface areas when correlated with the surface areas of both pure ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles (NPs) and pure g-C3N4 nanosheets. In addition, TEM analysis depicted that ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles (NPs) are homogenously spread on the g-C3N4 surface. Besides, synthesized ZnFe2O4-g-C3N4 nanocomposite accommodating 3 wt.% ZnFe2O4 NPs exhibited reinforced efficacy against photocatalytic decomposition of acridine orange dye when related to that of neat mesoporous ZnFe2O4 NPs as well as that of g-C3N4 nanosheets. Evidently, the photocatalytic remediation achievement of acridine orange acquired by 3 wt.% ZnFe2O4@g-C3N4 nanocomposites was found to be 4.4 times the achievement acquired by neat mesoporous ZnFe2O4 NPs. At the same time, it was 6.3 times the achievement acquired by neat g-C3N4 nanosheets. The fast transference of the reactant molecules through the mesoporous texture, the suppressed rate of the photoinduced charges' recombination, the boosted separation between charges, the diminished band gap energy besides the extended surface area of the synthesized nanocomposites could be considered the most important considerations that contribute strongly to the superior photocatalytic achievement of the synthesized ZnFe2O4-g-C3N4 nanocomposite towards photocatalytic remediation of acridine orange dye. Furthermore, the homogenous distribution of the small-sized ZnFe2O4 NPs onto the nanosheets’ surface participated also the photocatalytic progression of the synthesized nanocomposites. The regenerated ZnFe2O4-g-C3N4 nanocomposite exhibited extensive stability and durability even after recycling up to five runs.