Abstract
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•A novel Au@PPy-C/ZnTiO3 nanocomposite photocatalyst via a simple wet chemical methodology.•Ultrafast photodegradation of antibiotic linezolid under visible light irradiation.•Enhanced light absorption with efficient charge carrier separation was achieved.•The rate constant (k) of Au@PPy-C/ZnTiO3 is 1.95 times larger than the bare ZnTiO3.•The Au@PPy-C/ZnTiO3 photocatalyst exhibits outstanding stability and recyclability.
Surface modification and bandgap engineering of ZnTiO3 could be highly significant towards the enhancement of its photocatalytic performance by suppressing the recombination rate of charge carriers. In this report, we developed a novel ternary photocatalyst comprised of ZnTiO3 nanostructures, polypyrrole doped carbon back (PPy-C) and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). ZnTiO3 nanostructures were prepared by a modified sol–gel process. PPy-C and Au NPs associated ZnTiO3 ternary photocatalyst (Au@PPy-C/ZnTiO3) was effectively developed by ultra-sonication approach followed by a photo-reduction methodology. XRD analysis confirmed the existence of rhombohedral ZnTiO3 in ternary nanocomposite with perfect dispersion of Au NPs on PPy-C/ZnTiO3 hybrid structure. The formation of this Au@PPy-C/ZnTiO3 photocatalyst was further confirmed by XPS and EDS investigation. FTIR investigation also confirmed the trio photocatalytic structure among Au NPs, PPy-C and ZnTiO3. Synthesized Au@PPy-C/ZnTiO3 photocatalyst was found to be highly effectual and ultrafast under visible light illumination with 92.70 % removal of target linezolid molecule (an antibiotic drug) just in 20 min, almost 1.95 times (195 %) more efficacious than bare ZnTiO3. Additionally, the newly synthesized ternary photocatalyst completely removed methylene blue (MB) dye just in 15 min when exposed to visible light. These ultrafast degradation skills of Au@PPy-C/ZnTiO3 were attributed to well-ordered mesoporous structure with high surface area, favorable bandgap, enhancement in visible light absorption and effective decline in recombination rate of photogenerated charge carriers.