Highly efficient and visible light driven Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4@PANI modified BiOCl heterocomposite catalyst for water remediation

In the domain of photocatalysis the potential utilization of BiOCl is restricted in terms of efficiency and as a visible light photocatalyst due to the rapid recombination of light induced charge carriers and enduring a wide band gap. In the present work, a heterostructured Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4@Polyaniline/BiOCl composites was prepared via a simple facile procedure to provide substantial photoinduced charge carriers separation and reduction in band gap for enhanced light harvesting in BiOCl. Visible light driven photocatalytic performance of the designed catalyst has validated by the degradation of four toxic dyes i.e., methyl orange (MO), congo red (CR), rhodamine B (Rh B), methylene blue (MB). Physiochemical and heterostructure of the synthesized photocatalyst was confirmed by PXRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, XPS, EDX, PL, BET and DRS techniques. Among the various modified Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4@Polyaniline in BiOCl the catalyst with 20 wt% Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4@Polyaniline (NPB20) showed extended absorption edges and potential photocatalytic activity to the various dyes under visible light as compared to BiOC1. The exceptional enhancement could be scrutinized in terms of the extended light absorption by the Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4@Polyaniline nanofibers and efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs enabling in the retardation of the photon induced charge carriers recombination. The responsible photocatalysis mechanism supported from hydroxyl radicals analysis and trapping experiments is also been explicated. Additionally, the stability and reusability study of the developed catalyst supports its broad potential applications as a visible/solar light responsive photocatalyst for water remediation. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.