Facile synthesis of NiAl-LDH/Ag/g-C3N4 ternary composite for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

Abstract

The use of organic dyes has surged across industries like textiles, plastics, and construction. Contaminated water with these dyes is released into the environment, endangering both humans and ecosystems. In this research, we synthesized ternary composites of NiAl-LDH/Ag/g-C3N4 using hydrothermal methods. We conducted a comprehensive examination of the prepared catalysts, employing various analytical techniques to assess their structural, optical, morphological, and surface chemical properties. The surface area analysis confirmed a mean pore volume of 0.245 cm³/g, a favorable surface area of 36.4 cm2/g, and a pore diameter of 2.68 nm. The creation of strong interfacial contact between NiAL LDH, Ag, and g-C3N4 caused the charges to be separated for a long time. The degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under the influence of solar light was used to test the photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared catalyst. A set of reusability experiments was carried out over four cycles using the photocatalyst, and the characterization findings demonstrated that the preservation of crystalline planes plays a pivotal role in achieving its high efficiency. Notably, a remarkable 99.1% reduction in chemical oxygen demand (% COD) was achieved for MB. Additionally, scavenger studies were undertaken to identify the primary reactive species involved in the process. The maximum degradation efficiency of 99.60%, with the highest R2 value of 0.9921 was achieved for the photocatalytic degradation of MB respectively in 160 min. These results indicated that the new z-scheme ternary photocatalyst can be used as an efficient, green, effective, and recyclable for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.