Superior visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of fluoroquinolone drug norfloxacin over novel NiWO4 nanorods anchored on g-C3N4 nanosheets

Abstract

A heterojunction nanocomposite NiWO4@g-C3N4 photocatalyst was designed by simple hydrothermal method and followed by sonication method. The structure, optical, surface area and morphological properties of the as synthesized photocatalyst were broadly investigated by UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS), Brunauer Emmet Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The photocatalytic performance of the as-designed samples was studied based on the photodegradation of norfloxacin (NRF) under visible light irradiation. As compared, the photocatalytic activity of NiWO4@g-C3N4 nanocomposite higher than that of single phase of g-C3N4 and NiWO4. The optimal NRF degradation rate of the synthesized nanocomposite was reached at 0.0547, which is 3.59 times higher than that of g-C3N4. Based on the result, enhancement of photocatalytic activity was attributed to the efficient visible light absorption, large surface area and retard charge carriers separation. Hydroxyl radical (OH) and hole (h+) were played crucial role in the photocatalytic degradation process, it systematically explained by trapping experiments.