Photo-degradation of noxious pollutants from water system using Cornulaca monacantha stem supported ZnFe2O4 magnetic bio-nanocomposite

Abstract

In the present work, we describe the remediation of noxious naphthalene (NPN) and 2-naphthol (2-NP) from aqueous phase under visible irradiation. The activated carbon/ZnFe2O4 (AC/ZF) nanocomposite was synthesized by simple co-precipitation method. The various instrumental techniques such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, surface area analyzer Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), small area diffraction (SAED) pattern, electron dispersive X-ray (EDX), and photoluminescence spectra (PL) were used to study the detailed anatomy of prepared nanocomposite. The XRD, HRTEM, and SAED results indicated that AC/ZF composite has been prepared in nano-phase. The degradation of organic pollutants was studied using high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and UV–visible (UV–vis) spectrophotometry. The degradation efficiencies of 86.41% and 92.81% were recorded for NPN and 2-NP, respectively, using AC/ZF nanocomposite under synergetic adsorption-photocatalysis (AP) after 160 min of solar illumination. The augmented photocatalytic degradation of pollutants mainly ensued due to the mesoporous nature of the nanocomposite and strongly improved charge separation efficiency of AC/ZF. Therefore, our investigations might reveal a novel, economical, and proficient photoactive material for the removal of highly noxious pollutants from water systems.