Novel g-C3N4/BiVO4 heterostructured nanohybrids for high efficiency photocatalytic degradation of toxic chemical pollutants

Ch Venkata Reddy; Aashna Nagar; Nagaraj P Shetti; I Neelakanta Reddy; Soumen Basu; Jaesool Shim; Raghava Reddy Kakarla

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138146

Novel g-C₃N₄/BiVO₄ heterostructured nanohybrids for high efficiency photocatalytic degradation of toxic chemical pollutants

Chemosphere. 2023 May:322:138146. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138146. Epub 2023 Feb 18.

Authors

Ch Venkata Reddy¹, Aashna Nagar², Nagaraj P Shetti³, I Neelakanta Reddy¹, Soumen Basu⁴, Jaesool Shim⁵, Raghava Reddy Kakarla⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 712-749, South Korea.
² School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, 147004, India.
³ Department of Chemistry, School of Advanced Sciences, KLE Technological University, Vidyanagar, Hubballi, 580 031, Karnataka, India.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, 147004, India; Affiliate Faculty-TIET-Virginia Tech Center of Excellence in Emerging Materials, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, 147004, India.
⁵ School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 712-749, South Korea. Electronic address: jshim@ynu.ac.kr.
⁶ School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Electronic address: reddy.chem@gmail.com.

PMID: 36806805
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138146

Abstract

Novel heterostructured hybrid catalysts are essential for the efficient photocatalytic removal of organic pollutants from wastewater generated by the pharmaceutical and textile industries. In this study, novel g-C₃N₄/BiVO₄ nanohybrid catalysts were prepared using a solvothermal technique, and examined their structural and optical properties using different characterizations. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the monoclinic crystal phase of BiVO₄. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images revealed that g-C₃N₄ sheets anchored on the surface of BiVO₄ nanospheres. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirmed the oxidation states of g-C₃N₄/BiVO₄ composite sample. UV-Vis DRS spectroscopy analysis revealed that the composite (2.08 eV) sample had a reduced bandgap compared to other samples. The photocatalytic properties of the prepared samples were tested in the presence of organic methylene blue (MB) and antibiotic tetracycline (TC) pollutants under visible light illumination. The hybrid composite catalyst exhibited enhanced photocatalytic degradation efficiency of MB (88%) and TC (89%) pollutants at elevated rate constants of 0.0128 and 0.01174 min^-1, respectively. The improved catalytic performance of the composite catalyst is due to the heterojunctions between g-C₃N₄ and BiVO₄ that successfully reduced the rate of charge carrier recombination in the catalyst system. Scavenger experiments revealed that O₂^●- and h⁺ radicals played a main role in the degradation of the chemical pollutants. The developed g-C₃N₄/BiVO₄ heterostructured catalyst is a suitable candidate for removing contaminants from industrial wastewater because of its facile fabrication and exceptional photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation.

Keywords: Environmental remediation; Photocatalysis; Pollutants; g-C(3)N(4)/BiVO(4) nanohybrids.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Environmental Pollutants*
Light
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Photoelectron Spectroscopy
Photolysis
Tetracycline
Wastewater

Substances

Environmental Pollutants
Wastewater
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Tetracycline