Sol–gel auto-combustion synthesis and characterization of CeO2/ PbFe12O19/g-C3N4 nanocomposites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

چکیده مقاله

Due to efficient charge separation and strong visible-light absorption, g-C3N4-based heterogeneous photocatalyts have sparked significant interest in alleviating energy and environmental crisis. The present study reports CeO2/PbFe12O19 nanocomposite with photocatalytic properties that has been designed via sol–gel auto-combustion process utilizing different carbohydrate sugars as capping agent and fuel. Also, this investigation developed an ultrasonic-assisted co-precipitation route for the creation of ternary CeO2/PbFe12O19/g-C3N4 nanocomposites with diverse contents of nano-CeO2/PbFe12O19 to promote activity toward the degradation of malachite green (MG) pollutant under visible light. The results showed that 30 mg of resulting CeO2/PbFe12O19 nanostructures can achieve 46.68% degradation of MG at 10 mg L−1, while nanocomposites having mass ratio of 1:1 for CeO2/PbFe12O19: g-C3N4 showed 81.50% efficiency after 120 min at similar conditions. Radical scavenging experiments confirmed that •OH and h+ play a dominant role in MG degradation by CeO2/PbFe12O19/g-C3N4 nanocomposites. These results highlight the potential application of CeO2/PbFe12O19/g-C3N4 as a promising photocatalyst for removing water-soluble organic pollutants.