Microwave assisted fabrication of La/Cu/Zr/carbon dots trimetallic nanocomposites with their adsorptional vs photocatalytic efficiency for remediation of persistent organic pollutants

Herein we report a greener microwave method for fabrication of La/Cu/Zr/carbon quantum dots trimetallic nanocomposites(La/Cu/Zr/CQDs TNCs). The structural aspects and chemical nature of the TNCs were considered using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The optical band property of the trimetallic nanocomposites was examined using UV-vis spectroscopy. The adsorptional versus photocatalytic activity of the La/Cu/Zr/CQDs TNCs was investigated for the removal of a persistent organic pollutant i.e., malachite green dye and ampicillin antibiotic, under visible light irradiation. Overall, the current approach relates to green chemistry principles for fabrication La/Cu/Zr/CQDs trimetallic nanocomposites which hold promise for the development of surprisingly proficient adsorptional-photocatalytic systems. It has been observed that 96% ampicillin antibiotic and 86% of malachite green were degraded in 4h of photoirridation under adsorption in dark followed by photocatalysis and coupled adsorptional/photocatalysis process. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.