Magnetically retrievable Z-scheme binary NiFe2O4/g-C3N4 nanocomposites for photocatalytic dye degradation application

The presence of dye pollutants in aquatic systems has raised serious concerns about their ecological and human health impacts. In response, wide research has focused on the removal of dye pollutants. The ultimate goal of this work is to explore the factors that can be effective in dye removal with NiFe2O4 nanoparticles in aqueous solutions. Herein, the NiFe2O4 (NF) NPs, NiFe2O4/g-C3N4 (NFCN) nanocomposites with an active interface and g-C3N4 (gCN) powders were prepared by a hydrothermal method and a simple pyrolysis method, respectively. The XRD, UV-vis-NIR, HRSEM, TEM, VSM and BET were used to explore the properties of the samples. The XRD and TEM confirmed the existence of NF and gCN in NFCN nanocomposites. The VSM confirmed the ferrimagnetic behaviour of NFCN. The methylene blue (MB) degradation was performed using NF, gCN and NFCN under visible light irradiation for 90 min. The NFCN exhibited similar to 92% degradation efficacy after 90 min comparatively higher than bare NF and gCN which may be due to the efficient charge separation. The resistivity of all samples was found by the EIS study. The quenching test showed that h(+) and center dot O(2)(-)were the main ROS for the degradation process. The recycle test confirmed the stability and reusability of NFCN. From the results, it is inferred that NFCN is a suitable material for the dye degradation of textile effluents.