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Constructing α-Fe2O3/g-C3N4/SiO2 S-scheme-based heterostructure for photo-Fenton like degradation of rhodamine B dye in aqueous solution

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Abstract

This work successfully fabricated graphitic carbon nitride and magnetically recoverable α-Fe2O3/g-C3N4/SiO2 photo-Fenton catalysts using thermal polycondensation and in situ-simple precursor drying-calcination process, respectively, was examined for model synthetic rhodamine B (RhB) dye in the presence of H2O2 and acidic pH under simulated visible light irradiation. An aqueous suspension of the reaction mixture of dye-containing wastewater was fully degraded and reached 97% of photo-Fenton degradation efficiency within 120 min followed by the production of hydroxyl radical (•OH). The dominant hydroxyl radical position generated surface charge, electrostatic potential distribution, and average local ionization potential, which contributed to the complete mineralization of RhB dye, according to the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. HPLC and GCMS experiments were performed to examine the degradation fragments of RhB and draw a plausible mechanistic pathway which showed that RhB degradation generated a series of N-deethylated products, followed by a one-time ring-opening, which indicated that photosensitization induced a photocatalysis reaction mechanism.

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The data used in this research are available by the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP-2021/6), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Funding

The authors received support from Dong Thap University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Advanced Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Shoolini University, Solan, HP, India, 173229

    Kirti Sharma, Anita Sudhaik, Pankaj Raizada & Pardeep Singh

  2. Department of Chemistry, Shoolini Institute of Life Sciences and Business Management, Himachal Pradesh University, Solan, HP, 173212, India

    Kirti Sharma

  3. Special Centre for Nanoscience, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India

    Pankaj Thakur

  4. Faculty of Natural Sciences Teacher Education, Dong Thap University, Pham Huu Lau Street, Ward 6, 783, Cao Lanh City, Dong Thap, Vietnam

    Xuan Minh Pham

  5. Faculty of Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145, Anamro Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul, 02841, South Korea

    Quyet Van Le

  6. Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, 603103, Tamil Nadu, India

    Van-Huy Nguyen

  7. Department of Chemistry College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Tansir Ahamad

  8. Department of Organic Chemistry, Bioorganic Chemistry and Biotechnology, Silesian University of Technology, B. Krzywoustego 4, 44-100, Gliwice, Poland

    Sourbh Thakur

Authors
  1. Kirti Sharma
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  2. Anita Sudhaik
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  3. Pankaj Raizada
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  5. Xuan Minh Pham
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  6. Quyet Van Le
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  7. Van-Huy Nguyen
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  8. Tansir Ahamad
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  9. Sourbh Thakur
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  10. Pardeep Singh
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. The authors indicated in parentheses made substantial contributions to the following tasks of research: conceptualization, investigation, methodology (Kirti Sharma, Anita Sudhaik, Pankaj Raizada, Pankaj Thakur, Xuan Minh Pham, Quyet Van Le, Van-Huy Nguyen, Tansir Ahamad, Sourbh Thakur, Pardeep Singh), writing — original draft, writing — revised (Kirti Sharma, Pankaj Raizada, Pardeep Singh, Van-Huy Nguyen), supervision (Van-Huy Nguyen, Pardeep Singh). All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Van-Huy Nguyen.

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Sharma, K., Sudhaik, A., Raizada, P. et al. Constructing α-Fe2O3/g-C3N4/SiO2 S-scheme-based heterostructure for photo-Fenton like degradation of rhodamine B dye in aqueous solution. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 124902–124920 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24940-3

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