UV and visible-assisted photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical pollutants in the presence of rational designed biogenic Fe3O4-Au nanocomposite

Abstract

In this study, we designed Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and heterogeneous Fe₃O₄-Au nanocomposites with a mean size of 21 and 27 nm that synthesized by Foeniculum vulgare seed extract to photodegrade organic micropollutants under UV and visible light irradiation. The physiochemical characteristics of biogenic nanoparticles/nanocomposite are described by XRD, FTIR, UV-Vis, SEM, EDX, and X-ray elemental mapping. In the presence of nanoparticles and nanocomposites under UV irradiation, the total degradation of contaminants is about 85–90% after 2100 s, while under visible light irradiation, degradation efficiencies are about 70–85% after 4800-s irradiation. Total organic carbon analysis results confirmed photodegradation efficacies. Also, the scavenger’s experiments show that hydroxyl radical is the most important specie in the degradation of pollutant model. It can be concluded clearly that Fe₃O₄ green nanoparticles and Fe₃O₄-Au green nanocomposite are very simple and effective photocatalyst for degradation of organic pollutants in very short time under illumination.