Solar driven photocatalytic dye degradation through the novel Ti2C– ZnCo2O4MXenes nanocomposite

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) zinc cobalt oxide (ZnCo2O4) has considerable promise material for efficient dye photocatalytic degradation. A novel family of two-dimensional anisotropic carbides and nitrides from early transition metals (MXenes) is particularly fascinating among 2D materials, such as graphene, due to their potential uses in electronics, medicine, and photo-catalysis. The extended Ti2C phases were created by synthesizing them from their parent Ti2AlC MAX phases under the same circumstances as the traditional acidic aluminum extraction procedure. However, due to its limited specific surface area and high carrier recombination rate, photo-catalytic performance is usually inadequate. Preparation, morpho-structural characterization, band gap measurement, and congo red photo-degradation potential of Ti2C MXene and three nano-composites made up of MXene enhanced by ZnCo2O4 are presented in this study. SEM images revealed hill like agglomerated rough microstructure with round shape many particles morphology. The experimentally obtained band gaps using Tauc's approach are in the 2.60–2.84 eV range. In recent years, the approach of photo-catalytic breakdown of contaminants employing semiconductor photo-catalysts with UV–visible light has grown in importance. The addition of ZnCo2O4 boosted the establishment of strong interfacial coupling between Ti2C and ZnCo2O4, shortening the route of carrier transfer and promoting the direct transfer of photo-generated electrons from Ti2C's valence band to ZnCo2O4.The specific surface area of composites increased significantly at the same time, which was beneficial for improving the UV-absorption capability of Ti2C composites. This research proposes a practical design method for increasing the degrading performance of 2D photo-catalysts, which may serve as a technical suggestion for the modification design of additional photo-catalysts. The MXene based nano-composites revealed high activity in the congo-red photo-degradation reaction (56%–78% of degraded congo-red after 270 min). Ti2C(97%)/ZnCo2O4(3%) composite showed an enhanced efficiency for degradation of congo-red.