Novel heterogeneous magnetically retrievable g-C3N4/ZnO/SrFe12O19 B-type dual Z-scheme heterostructure for recuperated photo-Fenton degradation of organic dye adulterants from wastewater

Abstract

With the goal to boost the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs in semiconductor and enhance the photocatalytic performance of the material, herein, novel magnetically recoverable ternary g-C₃N₄/ZnO/SrFe₁₂O₁₉ (CZSr) dual Z-scheme heterojunction systems with varying ratios of SrFe₁₂O₁₉ were fabricated via sonication calcination strategy. The crystal structure, surface morphology, chemical composition, and optical characteristics of prepared materials were observed using different analytical tools. Benefitting from the enhanced charge carriers’ separation, wide visible light adsorptive property, and good charge transfer capacity, the optimized CZSr-11 revealed excellent photocatalytic performance towards degradation of two azo dyes, methylene blue (MB), and remazol brilliant yellow (RBY) displaying maximum % removal with 99% and 97% confiscation of MB and RBY, respectively, in just 20 min. Dual Z-scheme charge transfer abetted with photo-Fenton mechanism was observed to be responsive for the improvised degradation capability by ternary heterostructure. Radical trapping experiment results demonstrated the role of three reactive species HO^•, ^•O₂^‒, and h⁺ towards confiscation of model pollutants. Moreover, the fabricated material possessed excellent recoverability and reusability, thus making it reliable for practical usage. Thus, this study presents a pioneering perception of utilizing visible light harnessing heterojunction systems for organic pollutants’ removal from aqueous environment.