Abstract
Wastewater from many sectors that contains hazardous organic pollutants exacerbates environmental contamination. Consequently, outstanding photocatalytic substances that can successfully degrade hazardous substances are needed to provide pollution-free water. From this perspective, zinc oxide/g-C3N4-based composites are desirable due to their low cost, strong reactivity, and environmental friendliness. So, in the current investigation, sequences of Mn/g-C3N4/ZnO (Mn/GZ) and Ni/g-C3N4/ZnO (Ni/GZ) nanocomposites (NCs) containing different concentrations (wt.%) of g-C3N4 were made via the co-precipitation process. The chemical makeup and morphological characteristics of the produced composites were ascertained via the techniques of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), photoluminescence (PL), and UV spectrophotometry. Methyl orange (MO) and Eriochrome Black T (EBT) dyes were used as target pollutants to assess the composite materials' photocatalytic effectiveness. Compared to g-C3N4/ZnO and g-C3N4, the produced Mn/GZ and Ni/GZ NCs displayed better photocatalytic activity. The improved photocatalytic efficiency of the Ni/GZ and Mn/GZ NCs might be credited to synergistic interactions at the g-C3N4 and ZnO interface that result in a more efficient separation and conduction of photo-induced charges. Furthermore, the Ni/Mn atoms act as the facilitators to improve electron-hole pair separation and conduction in NCs. The nanocomposites were found to be incredibly stable, with consistently high dye decoloration efficiency over five catalytic cycles. Hence, Ni/GZ and Mn/GZ could potentially be very effective and adaptable photocatalysts for the photocatalytic decoloration of wastewater pollutants.