ABSTRACT
There has been immense development in the production and use of recyclable materials for dye degradation which are advancing in a wide perspective to minimise the environmental impacts. Therefore, an efficient, eco-friendly, magnetically separable and recyclable catalyst is being reported that has the potential to remove dyes [Tropeolin000, Congo red and Orange G] from wastewater. The catalyst has a backbone containing Zinc, Cobalt and Iron in the ratio Zn0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 with a coating of polyaniline that enhances its dye degradation capability. These synthesised PANi-coated ferrites have been characterised by FTIR, XRD, SEM and EDX techniques, and the photocatalytic activity has been explored using UV–Vis spectrophotometer at ambient conditions. A dye removal efficiency of as high as more than 99.9% has been reported for dye Orange G and above 90% for Tropeolin000. The mechanistic pathway that can be involved in the dye degradation has also been discussed.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF), Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, for SEM/EDX and TGA/DSC data collection.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.