Fabrication of zirconium ferrite doped Ag3PO4 composite for the degradation of refractory pollutants: Visible light assisted Z-scheme insight

The catalytic abatement of refractory pollutants is inevitable for a healthy environment. Herein, we report a novel magnetic zirconium ferrite (ZrFe2O5) incorporated silver orthophosphate (Ag3PO4) catalyst composite for the successful removal of organic pollutants. The highlight of the work is the in-situ synthesis of the novel magnetic ZrFe2O5/Ag3PO4 catalyst composite which manifests enhanced photodegradation of toxic organic dyes (methylene blue, methyl orange and acid red 18), pesticides (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, acephate) and pharmaceutical (tetracycline) within a very short span of time. The degradation studies reveal that the synthesized catalyst shows confounded degradation efficiency with 4 times higher than the pristine Ag3PO4 degradation for the same organic dyes, suggesting the prominence of the newly synthesized composite. This depicts the construction of Z-scheme mechanism for the catalyst activity of the composite. In summary, the work mainly focused on the development of a simple magnetic binary composite based on Ag3PO4 for the unmitigated eradication of toxic organic dyes, pesticides and pharmaceutical with well mineralization for future industrial applications with the aid of visible light.

Automated summary

The study presents a novel magnetic zirconium ferrite incorporated silver orthophosphate catalyst composite for efficient removal of organic pollutants, with significantly higher degradation efficiency compared to the pristine catalyst. The research also reveals the construction of a Z-scheme mechanism for the newly synthesized composite catalyst.