Pioneering superior efficiency in Methylene blue and Rhodamine b dye degradation under solar light irradiation using CeO2/Co3O4/g-C3N4 ternary photocatalysts

Abimannan Gomathi; Arumugam Priyadharsan; Murni Handayani; K A Ramesh Kumar; K Saranya; A Senthil Kumar; Balakrishnan Srividhya; K Murugesan; Palanisamy Maadeswaran

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2024.124125

Pioneering superior efficiency in Methylene blue and Rhodamine b dye degradation under solar light irradiation using CeO₂/Co₃O₄/g-C₃N₄ ternary photocatalysts

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2024 May 15:313:124125. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2024.124125. Epub 2024 Mar 6.

Authors

Abimannan Gomathi¹, Arumugam Priyadharsan², Murni Handayani³, K A Ramesh Kumar⁴, K Saranya⁵, A Senthil Kumar⁶, Balakrishnan Srividhya⁷, K Murugesan⁸, Palanisamy Maadeswaran⁹

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Nanomaterials and Energy Research Laboratory, Department of Energy Science and Technology, Periyar University, Salem 636011, Tamil Nadu, India.
² Department of Cariology, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Chennai 600 077, Tamil Nadu, India; Research Center for Nanotechnology Systems, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Puspiptek Area, Tangerang Selatan, Banten 15314, Indonesia.
³ Research Center for Nanotechnology Systems, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Puspiptek Area, Tangerang Selatan, Banten 15314, Indonesia.
⁴ Advanced Bioenergy and Biofuels Research Laboratory, Department of Energy Science and Technology, Periyar University, Salem 636011, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁵ Department of Physics, Government College of Engineering, Thanjavur 613402, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁶ Department of Applied Science, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641004, Tamilnadu, India.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, KSR College of Technology, Tiruchengode 637 215, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁸ Department of Environmental Science, Periyar University, Salem 636 011, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁹ Advanced Nanomaterials and Energy Research Laboratory, Department of Energy Science and Technology, Periyar University, Salem 636011, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address: maadeswaranp@periyaruniversity.ac.in.

PMID: 38461561
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2024.124125

Abstract

In this research work, we have successfully synthesized the CeO₂/Co₃O₄/g-C₃N₄ ternary nanocomposite for hydrothermal method for photocatalytic applications. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Transmission electron microscopy TEM, Photoluminescent spectra (PL), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer- Emmett-Teller (BET) and Ultraviolet diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS) technique. As per the optical spectroscopic investigations CeO₂/Co₃O₄/g-C₃N₄ ternary nanocomposite exhibited the high optical absorption range and its band gap is reduced from 2.95 eV to1.83 eV. The PL spectra showed the lowered emission peak intensity of ternary nanocomposite which is revealed that the better charge separation and slow recombination of electron hole pairs. The highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency of CeO₂/Co₃O₄/g-C₃N₄ ternary nanocomposite showed 93 % and 86 % towards the pollutant methylene blue and Rhodamine B. Moreover, photodegradation of the pollutants followed pseudo-first order kinetics with a very high-rate constant of 0.02211 min^-1 and 0.017756 min^-1. Additionally, the ternary nano catalyst was delivered the remarkable stability performance even after five cycles. This research may provide a low-cost approach for synthesized visible light responsive catalysts for use in environmental remediation applications.

Keywords: CeO(2)/Co(3)O(4)/g-C(3)N(4); Methylene blue; Nanocomposites; Photocatalyst; Photostability.