Coupling of Se-ZnFe₂O₄ with rGO for spatially charged separated nanocomposites as an efficient photocatalyst for degradation of organic pollutants in natural sunlight

Water pollution is a major issue nowadays. Textile effluents majorly consist of synthetic dyes whose degradation is quite difficult, and they pollute water by producing toxins through many reactions. Iron nanoparticles are considered the most efficient photocatalysts for the degradation of such toxins. In this paper, the photocatalytic efficiency of Se-ZnFe₂O₄ @GO and Se-ZnFe₂O₄ @rGO nanocomposites were checked against MB dye. The graphene oxide (GO) and graphene oxide (rGO) were prepared via modified Hummer's and solvothermal methods, respectively. While Se-ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles were prepared by sol-gel method and then GO and rGO was embedded on Se-ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles to prepare Se-ZnFe₂O₄ @GO and Se-ZnFe₂O₄ @rGO nanocomposites respectively. The prepared nanoparticles and nanocomposites were characterized by various techniques i.e., FTIR, EPR, SEM, XRD, EIS, and UV–vis spectroscopy. Among all the prepared nanoparticles and nanocomposites, the novel Se-ZnFe₂O₄ @rGO nanocomposites showed 98% degradation of methylene blue after 150 min and thus be considered as an excellent photocatalyst.