Photocatalytic performance of visible active boron nitride supported ZnFe2O4 (ZnFe2O4/BN) nanocomposites for the removal of aqueous organic pollutants
Abstract
Visible active novel ZnFe2O4/BN heterostructured nanocomposites with different wt% of BN nanosheets were prepared using a solvothermal method. Their structural, morphological and optical properties were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-Visible spectrophotometry, Photoluminescence (PL) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. The photocatalytic performance of ZnFe2O4/BN hybrid nanocomposites was evaluated towards oxidative degradation of organic pollutants such as Congo red (CR) and tetracycline (TC) under visible light irradiation. The porous BN nanosheets act as a catalytic support and enhance the photoactivity of ZnFe2O4 in the nanocomposite. The results also indicated that the presence of BN nanosheets lowers the recombination rate and shows significantly improved separation of the photo-induced electron–hole pairs in ZnFe2O4/BN when compared to bare ZnFe2O4. Among the different ZnFe2O4/BN nanocomposites, 9.3 wt% of BN loaded ZnFe2O4 hybrid was found to show the most efficient photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of Congo Red and tetracycline under visible light irradiation. The apparent rate constant values of ZnFe2O4/9.3% BN were found to be three and five times higher than that of bare ZnFe2O4 in the degradation of CR and TC respectively.