Binary 2D/2D g-C3N4 /Cucoos Photocatalyst Towards the Effective Degradation of Antibiotic Norfloxacine Degradation Under Visible Light

Abstract

The removal of organic pollutants, antibiotics and other industrial effluents from the natural water resources has been a prime target of researchers nowadays. Among various antibiotics, fluoroquinolones has been considered as a persistent chemical in the water bodies. Herein, we have successfully fabricated a 2D/2D g-C3N4 /CuCoOS Nano hybrid heterostructure using thermal polycondensation approach which aims at degrading the fluoroquinolone norfloxacine (NOR) in the presence of visible light. The formation of the nanocomposite has been proved through various characterization techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS), electron diffraction X-ray technique (EDX), Photoluminescence (PL) techniques. As compared to their parent molecules, the hetero nanocatalyst g-C3N4/CuCoOS-13.5 shows considerable enhancement in its photocatalytic behaviour in comparison to the other synthesised nanocomposites. The mechanism of action involves the alignment of band levels leading to successful separation of charge carriers. The promoted visible light photoadsorption behaviour paves the opportunity for various applications as the future scope through slight modifications. The detailed characterization techniques as well as the work of action of the nanocomposite shall be presented at the conference.