Green synthesized AgNPs embellished on crumpled surface of thiazole modified g-C3N4: A heterocatalyst for the photodegradation of pharmaceutical effluent Itraconazole

Abstract

The present work demonstrates the fabrication of thiazole modified g-C₃N₄ (CN) incorporated with Ag NPs (CTA) photo catalyst. A green method was opted to synthesize Ag nps using seed extract of Sinapis alba. Thiazole modified CN was synthesized using in-situ thermal condensation followed by the incorporation of Ag nps through green route. The photo catalyst was characterized by IR, XRD, SEM/EDS, HR-TEM and XPS. The analysis of optical activities shows narrowing of band gap from 2.68 eV (g-C₃N₄) to 1.98 (for CTA) which attributed due to SPR effect of Ag nps. The catalytic potential of synthesized CTA has been tested for degradation of itraconazole (ITC) a pharmaceutical effluent. The degradation results have shown that 92.5 % of ITC degraded in 120 min. with higher rate constant value i.e. 0.0205 min⁻¹. Various parameters such as effect of catalysts dosage, pH has been studied. The maximum ITZ degradation by the CTA photocatalyst was observed at 300 mg/L and pH 6. The major radical species responsible for the degradation have been identified as O₂^●- by radical scavenging experiments.