A new Y-Zr/g-C3N4 nanoflakes anchored mesoporous silica composite for efficient environmental remediation applications

Abstract

Environmental remediation under visible light irradiation through adsorption and advanced oxidation processes is a burning research field nowadays. In this study, a new Y-Zr doped g-C3N4 (YZrGCN) photocatalyst and its composite with mesoporous silica were prepared. X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR), UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to unveil the structure, presence of functional groups, optical properties, and morphology of pristine g-C3N4 (PGCN), Y-Zr doped g-C3N4 (YZrGCN), and YZrGCN/mesoporous silica (YZrGCN/MS) composite respectively. The formation of the YZrGCN nanoflakes and YZrGCN/MS composite was confirmed by XRD and FTIR. The nanoflakes of YZrGCN anchored spherical silica particles were seen by FESEM images. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared samples was examined by the degradation of cationic dye (crystal violet) in water. The composite exhibited excellent removal performance as it removed 90 % of crystal violet dye in just 60 min. The factors affecting adsorption process (pH, shaking time, composite dose, and concentration of the pollutant) were also optimized. The adsorption isotherms were applied to the composite to understand adsorption mechanism. The adsorption study revealed that the nature of the adsorbent was multilayered, concluded by the highest regression value of Temkin isotherm. Kinetic models were applied and concluded that pseudo second order was best fit. Eco-friendly nature of this new material, remarkable removal efficiency against crystal violet dye, and cost effective synthesis method concluded that this newly synthesized material best suitable candidate for efficient removal of environmental pollutants.