MOF-derived ZnO/g-C3N4 nanophotocatalyst for efficient degradation of organic pollutant
Sadaf Mutahir, Muhammad Asim Khan, Yuan Qunhui, Sheeraz Mehboob, M. Bououdina, Safaa M. Elkholi, Abbas Khan, Rasha A. Abumousa, Muhammad Humayun
Abstract
With the use of facile single-step calcination of Zinc glutamate MOF and melamine, highly efficient ZnO/g-C3N4 nanocomposite was prepared and utilized in photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB), an organic pollutant. The composite's morphology, crystallinity, optical properties, and composition were determined using several analytical techniques, which include scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The degradation of RhB over the optimized 1.0%ZnO/g-C3N4 composite is ∼1.77 fold higher compared to the pure g-C3N4 under identical conditions. The synergistic interfacial interaction between g-C3N4 and MOF derived ZnO remarkably improved the electron-hole pairs separation, which led to the exceptionally high photocatalytic activity of the composite photocatalysts. Based on the radical scavenger tests and ESR analysis, it is confirmed that •O2− as the dominant active specie facilitated the degradation of RhB over the as-prepared ZnO/g-C3N4 composites. This work will open up new insights for further research on g-C3N4 based composite materials.