Synthesis of visible-light-responsive lanthanum-doped copper ferrite/graphitic carbon nitride composites for the photocatalytic degradation of toxic organic pollutants

Abstract

The aquatic ecosystems have been at high risk of destruction for the last many years due to the production and disposal of organic dyes from various textile and paint industries. A serious attention is required to cope with this environmental contamination by the removal of these dyes. An extremely effective and highly adaptive photocatalyst, La-CuFe2O4/g-C3N4 (LCFO/CN), was prepared by hydrothermal technique. The synthesized catalysts were carefully analyzed using a variety of characterization techniques in order to investigate the interaction among their catalytic activity and material characteristics. The Rhodamine B (RhB) dye was used to investigate the photodegradation efficiency of the LCFO/CN photocatalyst. An excellent photodegradation of 97.35 % was observed by the LCFO/CN-2 heterojunction photocatalyst compared to pure CFO (62.73 %), LCFO (67.13 %), and LCFO/CN-1 (83.14 %), respectively, under constant reaction conditions ([catalyst] = 0.4 g/L, [RhB] = 30 mg/L, pH = 6.0, T = 25 ± 1 °C). This enhancement of photodegradation of the RhB dye by the LCFO/CN-2 photocatalyst was due to an enhancement in surface area, an increase in active sites, and a reduction in bandgap energy. The effect of different factors was also determined by varying the reaction conditions. The generation of reactive oxygen species was accomplished through trapping agents and electron paramagnetic resonance analysis. The photostability and reusability of the photocatalyst LCFO/CN-2 nanocomposite were evaluated by performing five successive experiments under predefined reaction conditions. Ultimately, this work will provide an economically feasible and environment-friendly photocatalyst for the effective degradation of RhB dye in water bodies.