Robust visible light active PANI/LaFeO3/CoFe2O4 ternary heterojunction for the photo-degradation and mineralization of pharmaceutical effluent: Clozapine

In this work we report the fabrication of novel magnetic ternary PANI/LaFeO3/CoFe2O4 (PLC) heterojunction through in situ polymerization of aniline. As fabricated photo catalyst has been characterized by using FT-IR, XRD and XPS. The surface as well as internal morphologies has been studied by SEM and TEM. The optical activities have been investigated by UV-Vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The synthesized catalysts were used for effective photo degradation of pharmaceutical pollutant clozapine (CZP) under visible light irradiation. In comparison with sole counterpart photo catalysts PANI, LaFeO3 and CoFe2O4, PLC demonstrated superior photo-activity, PLC able to degrade 94.2% of CZP over 120 min photo degradation experiment. The effect of catalysts dosage, pH, SO42-, NO3- and HCO3- ion on the photocatalytic activity has been explored. 37.4% and 78.3% of TOC and COD removal has been achieved for the CZP photo-degradation by PLC. The major active radical species have been identified by performing radical scavenging experiment.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel magnetic ternary PANI/LaFeO3/CoFe2O4 (PLC) heterojunction was fabricated and characterized for its photocatalytic activity towards CZP degradation. The PLC showed superior performance compared to other photocatalysts, degrading 94.2% of CZP in 120 minutes under visible light irradiation. Various factors affecting the photocatalytic activity were explored, and PLC achieved significant removal of TOC and COD during CZP degradation.