An efficient and magnetically recoverable g-C3N4/ZnS/CoFe2O4 nanocomposite for sustainable photodegradation of organic dye under UV–visible light illumination

Abstract

Effective improvement of an easily recoverable photocatalyst is equally vital to its photocatalytic performance from a practical application view. The magnetically recoverable process is one of the easiest ways, provided the photocatalyst is magnetically strong enough to respond to an external magnetic field. Herein, we prepared graphitic carbon nitride nanosheet (g-C3N4), and ZnS quantum dots (QDs) supported ferromagnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticles (NPs) as the gC3N4/ZnS/CoFe2O4 nanohybrid photocatalyst by a wet-impregnation method. The loading of CoFe2O4 NPs in the g-C3N4/ZnS nanohybrid resulted in extended visible light absorption. The ferromagnetic g-C3N4/ZnS/CoFe2O4 nanohybrid exhibited better visible-light-active photocatalytic performance (97.11%) against methylene blue (MB) dye, and it was easily separable from the aqueous solution by an external bar magnet. The g-C3N4/ZnS/CoFe2O4 nanohybrid displayed excellent photostability and reusability after five consecutive cycles. The favourable band alignment and availability of a large number of active sites affected the better charge separation and enhanced photocatalytic response. The role of active species involved in the degradation of MB dye during photocatalyst by g-C3N4/ZnS/CoFe2O4 nanohybrid was also investigated. Overall, this study provides a facile method for design eco-friendly and promising g-C3N4/ZnS/CoFe2O4 nanohybrid photocatalyst as applicable in the eco-friendly dye degradation process.