Facile construction of chitosan-ternary metal selenide biopolymer-based composite for photocatalytic degradation of petroleum derive sunset yellow and acid black azo-dyes using response surface methodology RSM

The presence of organic pollutants especially dyes in industrial wastewater is a significant threat to both human health and aquatic life. As a result, it is required to degrade toxic organic dye pollutants to ensure the safety of the environment and the public. To solve this problem, a co-precipitation technique was used to prepare chitosan-based-ternary metal selenide nanocomposites (FeMnSeCs-NPs). Chitosan was used to encapsulate the nanocomposites to stop leaching and make the catalyst recovery process simple. The nanocomposite’s effective synthesis was confirmed by FTIR analysis. The nanomaterial’s average particle size, as determined by SEM analysis, was 40 nm. Iron, manganese, and selenium elements were identified by EDX analysis, supporting the synthesis of FeMnSeCs-NPs. The Tauc plot was used to determine the narrow bandgap of 2.09 eV and the crystallite structure of nanocomposites to be 14.2 nm with a crystalline structure confirmed by XRD analysis. Furthermore, the as-synthesized FeMnSe-NPs were employed to degrade acid black 2 and sunset yellow dyes via photocatalytic degradation. The catalyst exhibited a high photocatalytic degradation efficiency of up to 95% for both dyes under optimized circumstances of 90 min, 0.5 g of catalyst under the sunlight irradiation. The degradation efficiency was maintained up to five consecutive cycles. These findings showed the effectiveness of FeMnSeCs-NPs for the removal of dye contaminants from industrial effluent.