Construction of Magnetically Retrievable g-C3N4/CeO2-Fe3O4-Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites With Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity And Antibacterial Properties

Abstract

Construction of multi-interface contact step-scheme (S-scheme) photocatalyst is a promising pathway to achieve high-electron transfer efficiency for photodegradation estrone and congo red. In this paper, g-C₃N₄ is chosen as the main photocatalyst, CeO₂ nanosheet with the unique Ce⁴⁺ → Ce³⁺ conversion performance and Fe₃O₄-Reduced graphene oxide are loaded onto the g-C₃N₄ surface to bulid 2D-2D magnetic photocatalyst. The 2D–2D magnetic photocatalyst structure imparts reusability by magnetic retrieval and at the same time Fe₃O₄-Reduced graphene oxide acts as an efficient host for g-C₃N₄/CeO₂ composite photocatalyst. The photocatalytic performance is examined using etsrone and congo red. Photodegradation studies show the CeO₂/g-C₃N₄/ Fe₃O₄- Reduced graphene oxide a composite catalyst can degrade 71% of estrone, 92% of congo red and 89% phenanthrene, Free radical scavenger test shows superoxide and hydroxyl radical species play a major role in the degradation. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the magnetic CeO₂/g-C₃N₄/ Fe₃O₄-Reduced graphene oxide possesses strong antibacterial properties against Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli. A three-factor-three-level Box–Behnken design (BBD) was selected to optimize three greatly influential parameters: light irradiation time (min), The quality of photocatalyst(mg) and pollution concentration(ppm) by response surface methodology. It is expected that CeO₂/g-C₃N₄/ Fe₃O₄- Reduced graphene oxide can be used as a 2D–2D magnetic photocatalyst for to achieve its valorization, which have very broad development prospects in the field of environmental remediation or catalysis.

Graphical Abstract