Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of Cr(VI) and oxytetracycline using CuFeS ₂@Zn composites

Abstract

Water pollution caused by heavy metals and antibiotics poses a significant global challenge, necessitating the development of efficient remediation strategies. In this study, zinc (Zn) doped CuFeS₂ (copper iron sulfide) composites were used as highly efficient photocatalysts for the degradation of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) and oxytetracycline (OTC) under visible light. The composites were synthesized using a facile hydrothermal method with various Zn doping concentrations (1 mol%, 5 mol%, and 10 mol%). The synthesized composites were comprehensively characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis revealed their structural, morphological, optical, and surface area properties. Among the composites, 10 mol% CuFeS@Zn exhibited the highest degradation efficiency, achieving 99 % Cr(VI) and OTC removal within 100 min. This performance significantly surpasses the efficiencies of CuFeS₂, and the CuFeS₂@Zn 1 mol%, and CuFeS₂@Zn 5 mol% composites. Kinetic analysis revealed a high reaction rate constant of 3.041 min⁻¹, and optimal photocatalytic activity was observed at pH 6 and a catalyst dosage of 6 mg, with excellent recyclability and stability demonstrated over multiple cycles for the CuFeS₂@Zn 10 mol% composite. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the improved charge carrier separation and transfer resulting from Zn incorporation, which facilitated redox reactions at the catalyst-pollutant interface. This study provides valuable insights into the design of Zn-doped CuFeS₂ composites offering a promising pathway for the development of advanced photocatalytic materials for environmental remediation.

Keywords

CuFeS ₂@Zn / Composites / Photocatalytic activity / Oxytetracycline / Hexavalent chromium

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

S. Vigneswaran: Writing – original draft, Data curation. P. Gowthaman: Supervision, Methodology. S. Sangeethavanathi: Resources.

Acknowledgements

The authors express their sincere gratitude to the Thin Film Research Center, Department of Electronics, Erode Arts and Science College, Erode, for generously providing the necessary research facilities for this study.

Supplementary materials

Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.chphma.2025.01.004.

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