Abstract
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•Novel Mg0.5-xCuxZn0.5Fe2O4 spinel ferrite prepared.•Dopant induced shifts in conduction bands-high potential.•High performance removal of carbamazepine under visible light.•●O2– as active species.•High charge separation via metal redox cycle and dopants.
Environmental friendly and robust Mg0.5-xCuxZn0.5Fe2O4(x = 0, 0.01 & 0.02) nano-photocatalyst was prepared by facile solution combustion method for high performance photocatalytic removal of carbamazepine (CBZ). Mg0.3Cu0.2Zn0.5Fe2O4 catalyst shows 94.3% degradation in 90 min visible exposure and 78.2% total organic carbon (TOC) removal. The Cu dopant driven conduction band shifting to more negative side leads to improved ●O2– formation supported by electron spin resonance (ESR) probe. The dopants and metal redox cycles lead to higher visible absorption and reduced recombination boosting the CBZ removal. The degradation pathway and photocatalytic mechanism is also predicted.