Sonocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride with CoFe2O4/g-C3N4 composite

Abstract

In this work, different mass percent ratios of CoFe2O4 coupled g-C3N4 (w%-CoFe2O4/g-C3N4, CFO/CN) nanocomposites were integrated through a hydrothermal process for the sonocatalytic eradication of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) from aqueous media. The prepared sonocatalysts were subjected to various techniques to investigate their morphology, crystallinity, ultrasound wave capturing activity and charge conductivity. From the investigated activity of the composite materials, it has been registered that the best sonocatalytic degradation efficiency of 26.71 % in 10 min was delivered when the amount of CoFe2O4 was 25% in the nanocomposite. The delivered efficiency was higher than that of bare CoFe2O4 and g-C3N4. This enriched sonocatalytic efficiency was credited to the accelerated charge transfer and separation of e−-h+ pair through the S-scheme heterojunctional interface. The trapping experiments confirmed that all the three species i.e. •OH, h+ and •O2− were involved in the eradication of antibiotics. A strong interaction was shown up between CoFe2O4 and g-C3N4 in the FTIR study to support charge transfer as confirmed from the photoluminescence and photocurrent analysis of the samples. This work will provide an easy approach for fabricating highly efficient low-cost magnetic sonocatalysts for the eradication of hazardous materials present in our environment.

Keywords

• CoFe2O4/g-C3N4
• Sonocatalysis
• Degradation
• Tetracycline hydrochloride
• Heterojunction