Synthesis of novel g-C3N4/ZIF-8/MnFe2O4 nanocomposite: efficient heterogeneous photocatalyst for degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride.

Herein, a magnetic nanocomposite is synthesized using ZIF-8, g-C₃N₄, and MnFe₂O₄ (g-C₃N₄/ZIF-8/MnFe₂O₄) as photocatalyst for the tetracycline hydrochloride photodegradation. Characterization of the nanocomposite was verified with various methods containing XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM, EDS, elemental mapping, DRS, PL, and EIS. Then, its application as photocatalysts for the tetracycline hydrochloride degradation is studied under visible light illumination. Using this photocatalyst, after 60 min, the conversion of tetracycline hydrochloride, is measured to be 98.8%. Also, average apparent reaction rate constant of photodegradation of tetracycline hydrochloride by g-C₃N₄/ZIF-8/MnFe₂O₄ nanocomposite was 9.7, 12.1, 15.6, 3.1, 3.7, and 4.8 times those of g-C₃N₄, ZIF-8, MnFe₂O₄, g-C₃N₄/ZIF-8, g-C₃N₄/MnFe₂O₄, and ZIF-8/MnFe₂O₄, respectively. In the radical scavenger, and ESR experiments, ˙OH, and h⁺ were exhibited to be major species in the photocatalytic degradation process. Furthermore, we proposed a mechanism for the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride by g-C₃N₄/ZIF-8/MnFe₂O₄ nanocomposite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]