Fabrication and characterization of novel, cost-effective graphitic carbon nitride/Fe coated textile nanocomposites for effective degradation of dyes and biohazards
Munir Ashraf,
Fiaz Hussain,
Humera Aziz,
Umair Riaz,
Muhammad Hamzah Saleem,
Amjed Javid,
Anum Nosheen,
Azam Ali,
Mohammad K. Okla,
Ibrahim A. Saleh,
Ibrahim A. Alaraidh,
Mostafa A. Abdel-Maksoud
Affiliations
Munir Ashraf
Functional Textiles Research Group, School of Engineering & Technology, National Textile University, Faisalabad, 37610, Pakistan
Fiaz Hussain
Department of Fibre and Textile Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Humera Aziz
Department of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan; Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan; Corresponding author. Department of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan.
Umair Riaz
Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, 60000, Pakistan
Muhammad Hamzah Saleem
College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China
Amjed Javid
Functional Textiles Research Group, School of Engineering & Technology, National Textile University, Faisalabad, 37610, Pakistan
Anum Nosheen
Functional Textiles Research Group, School of Engineering & Technology, National Textile University, Faisalabad, 37610, Pakistan
Azam Ali
Department of Material Engineering, Technical University of Liberec, Liberec, Czech Republic
Mohammad K. Okla
Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
Ibrahim A. Saleh
Faculty of Science, Zarqa University, Zarqa, 13110, Jordan
Ibrahim A. Alaraidh
Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
Mostafa A. Abdel-Maksoud
Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
Textile-based photocatalysts are the new materials that can be utilized as an effective sustainable solution for biochemical hazards. Hence, we aimed to develop a sustainable, cost-effective, and facile approach for the fabrication of photocatalytic fabric using graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and ferric-based multifunctional nanocomposite. Bulk g-C3N4 was prepared from urea by heating it at 500 °C for 2 h. The structure of ball-milled g-C3N4 was engineered by doping with various amounts of iron (III) chloride hexahydrate solution (0.006 mol/L) and sintered at 90 °C for 24 h to prepare g-C3N4–nanosheets/α-Fe2O3 composites. These nanocomposites have potential avenues towards rational designing of g-C3N4 for improved photocatalytic, antibacterial, and antiviral behavior. The prepared nanocomposite was characterized for its surface morphology, chemical composition, crystal structure, catalytic, antibacterial, and antiviral behavior. The fabrication of ferric doped g-C3N4 nanocomposites was characterized by SEM, EDX, FTIR, and XRD analysis. The coated fabric nanocomposite was characterized for methylene blue dye degradation under visible light, antibacterial and antiviral behavior. The developed textile-based photocatalyst has been found with very good recyclability with photocatalytic degradation of dye up to 99.9 % when compared to conventional g-C3N4 powder-based photocatalyst.
