Mg/Li@GCN as highly active visible light responding 2D photocatalyst for wastewater remediation application.

In this study, a highly visible light responding 2D photocatalytic material has been prepared and analysed for its potential for photodegradation of organic pollutants. The pristine GCN has been co-doped with Mg/Li using the facile synthesis route. The prepared photocatalytic materials were then analysed using characterisation techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) analysis. The prepared samples were analysed for photocatalytic degradation analysis towards methylene blue dye. The apparent rate constant value increased up to 5.4 times in the case of the GCNML (0.5,2) sample in comparison to GCNP. In addition, the GCNML (0.5,2) sample was also analysed for degradation of crystal violet (CV) (97% in 80 min), rose bengal (RB) (84% in 120 min) and methyl orange (MO) (45% in 120 min) dyes. The result obtained from the study confirmed that GCNML (0.5,2) can act as a potential photocatalyst for wastewater remediation application.

Photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of green synthesized Ag doped MgO nanocomposites towards environmental sustainability.

The utilization of MgO nanoparticles (NPs) for Photocatalytic and antimicrobial activities has gained lots of attention in recent years. Since silver is an expensive material, it's of interest to check that doping of very small concentration of silver will increase the pollutant degradation efficiency of composites. Here Aloe Vera plant extract was used for synthesis of MgO, Ag NPs and Ag/MgO-nanocomposites (NCs). Green synthesized NPs and NCs were confirmed by using different techniques like UV-Vis, BET, TGA, FTIR, PL, XRD (optical, functional, Thermal, Structural) EDX, TEM, SEM, XPS, EIS and EPR (morphological, elemental, photoelectrical and ROS) studies respectively. Then NPs and NCs were applied for the photocatalytic activity of methylene blue (MB), phenol and antimicrobial studies of E. coli bacteria. Ag/MgO-NCs showed 90.18% dye and 80.67% phenol degradation in 120 min which killed E. Coli pathogenic bacteria in 25 min under solar light irradiations. In disk diffusion methods, it inactivates 24 mm area of bacterial cell growth. Thus, among these green synthesized NPs and NCs, Ag/MgO-NCs exhibited enhanced photocatalytic and antimicrobial activities.

ZnO-Modified g-C3N4: A Potential Photocatalyst for Environmental Application.

Solar energy-driven practices using semiconducting materials is an ideal approach toward wastewater remediation. In order to attain a superior photocatalyst, a composite of g-C3N4 and ZnO (GCN-ZnO) has been prepared by one-step thermal polymerization of urea and zinc carbonate basic dihydrate [ZnNO3]2·[Zn(OH)2]3. The GCN-ZnO0.4 sample showed an evolved morphology, increased surface area (116 m2 g-1), better visible light absorption ability, and reduced band gap in comparison to GCN-pure. The GCN-ZnO0.4 sample also showed enhanced adsorption and photocatalytic activity performance, resulting in an increased reaction rate value up to 3 times that of GCN-pure, which was attributed to the phenomenon of better separation of photogenerated charge carriers resulting because of heterojunction development among interfaces of GCN-pure and ZnO. In addition, the GCN-ZnO0.4 sample showed a decent stability for four cyclic runs and established its potential use for abatement of organic wastewater pollutants in comparison to GCN-pure.