Surface activated mesoporous Ag-Fe3O4 tethered chitosan nanomatrix heterojunction photocatalyst for organic dyes degradation: Performance, recycling, and mechanism

Abstract

Herein, Fabricated a magnetic core-shelled CS@Fe3O4 nanostructure with silver nanoparticle (Ag@CS-Fe3O4) was simply prepared through a one-pot hydrothermal method and utilized as ab photocatalyst for the degradation of dyes. Because the remediation of wastewater containing complex organic compounds is an important issue in environmental fields, Orange G (OG) and Rhodamine B (RhB) was selected as the main organic pollutants to clarify the photocatalytic activity of Ag@CS-Fe3O4 in this study. We confirmed the successful synthesis of nanocomposite through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Electron spin resonance spectroscopy analyses. The Fe3O4@ hierarchical Ag@CS shows a noticeable OG and RhB dyes removal of 98.6% and 95.4% within 120 min at the enhanced pH range. The catalytic reusability has been exceptional up to five repititive runs, and the practicability for the treatment of industrially contaminated water was confirmed by field trial. This study provides an ideal scheme for effectual optimization of hierarchical nanostructures for effective degradation of refractory pollutants in the environment.