Abstract
To increase the photocatalytic activity of AgCl for environmental applications, a simple precipitation–deposition technique was established for the synthesis of the CoFe2O4/AgCl complex. For that, the phase of the nanoparticles was identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and combined scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The point of zero charges (pHpzc) of CoFe2O4/AgCl was equal to 6.92. The gap energies of CoFe2O4(CFO) and AgCl, evaluated from the UV–VIS diffusion reflectance, were found to be 1.46 eV and 3.20 eV, respectively. The photo-electrochemistry was undertaken to determine the conduction type of the spinel; a flat band of 0.06 VSCE with p-type behavior has been determined and an energy diagram of the hetero-system CFO/AgCl/Na2SO4 electrolyte has been illustrated. As an application, the Solophenyl Red 3BL (SR 3BL), a recalcitrant dye, has been successfully oxidized. The effects of operational factors like the mass ratio (CFO/AgCl), pH, catalyst dose, and initial dye SR 3BL concentration (Co) were optimized. The results revealed a high photoactivity (100%) at pH ~ 3, a catalyst dose of 1 g/L, and an initial concentration (Co) of 10 mg/L within 150 min under visible light. The photo-oxidation data were fitted with the first-order kinetic, and half photocatalytic life of 19 min was extracted. In addition, photodegradation has also been experimented under solar light and a quasi-complete degradation was obtained with a faster kinetic. A photodegradation mechanism was proposed and the radical O2•− was found to be the main active species in the photocatalytic process. Moreover, this hetero-system demonstrated effective oxidation under solar light by facilitating photo-electron transport with the deference potential.
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Billal BRAHIMI: writing—original draft preparation; Elhadj MEKATEL: writing—review and editing; Oussama BAALOUDJ: visualization; Mohamed TRARI: supervision.
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Brahimi, B., Mekatel, E., Baaloudj, O. et al. High Photocatalytic Activity of the Heterojunction Photocatalyst CoFe2O4/AgCl for Efficient Photodegradation of Solophenyl Red 3BL Dye in Water. Water Air Soil Pollut 233, 347 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05812-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05812-5