Fabrication of dual Z-scheme g-C3N4/Fe2TiO5/Fe2O3 ternary nanocomposite using natural ilmenite for efficient photocatalysis and photosterilization under visible light

Fabrication of Naturally Derived Chitosan and Ilmenite Sand-Based TiO2/Fe2O3/Fe-N-Doped Graphitic Carbon Composite for Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue under Sunlight

“…The survey spectrum of pure chitosan and pyrolyzed chitosan ( Supplementary Materials Figure S2a,b , respectively) showed the presence of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. The higher resolution spectrum of C 1s of chitosan ( Figure 6 a) was deconvoluted into three peaks centered at 284.5, 286.05 and 287.63 eV, which are attributed to sp 2 hybridized C-C, C-N and N-C=N, respectively [ 17 ]. The C 1s spectrum of pyrolyzed chitosan, C800 ( Figure 6 b), showed five subpeaks at 284.5, 285.06, 286, 287.49 and 290.51 eV, which were ascribed to sp 2 -hybridized C-C, C-O, C-N, N-C=N bonds and π–π interactions, respectively [ 17 , 56 ].…”

“…The higher resolution spectrum of C 1s of chitosan ( Figure 6 a) was deconvoluted into three peaks centered at 284.5, 286.05 and 287.63 eV, which are attributed to sp 2 hybridized C-C, C-N and N-C=N, respectively [ 17 ]. The C 1s spectrum of pyrolyzed chitosan, C800 ( Figure 6 b), showed five subpeaks at 284.5, 285.06, 286, 287.49 and 290.51 eV, which were ascribed to sp 2 -hybridized C-C, C-O, C-N, N-C=N bonds and π–π interactions, respectively [ 17 , 56 ]. Similar behavior was observed in the higher-resolution spectra of C 1s of CIL (1:1) and CIL (3:4) composites ( Supplementary Figure S2c,d , respectively).…”

“…The higher resolution spectrum of N 1s of pure chitosan ( Figure 6 d) showed only one peak at 397.83 eV, which corresponds to a C-N bond of chitosan [ 59 ]. The higher resolution spectrum of N 1s of pyrolyzed chitosan ( Figure 6 e) was deconvoluted into two peaks at 398.34 and 400.8 eV, which correspond to C-N=C and N-C 3 , respectively [ 17 ]. The same chemical environment of nitrogen was observed in all four fabricated nanocomposites (CIL (1:1), CIL (3:4), CIL (1:2) and CIL (1:4)) as shown in Supplementary Figure S2f–i , respectively.…”

“…The higher resolution spectra of O 1s of the nanocomposites CIL (1:1), CIL (3:4), CIL (1:2) and CIL (1:4) are shown in Supplementary Figure S2k–n , respectively. They were deconvoluted into three peaks at 529.85, 531.21 and 532.86 eV, which were assigned to the Ti 4+ /Fe 3+ - O, OH and C=O bonds, respectively [ 17 ].…”

“…Additionally, the aesthetic worth is impacted by the dyes’ presence. Consequently, it is crucial to remove dyes from wastewater using a variety of techniques [ 17 ]. Many techniques have been deployed to remove dyes from wastewater including adsorption [ 18 ], membrane filtration [ 19 ], nanofiltration [ 20 ], coagulation and flocculation [ 21 ], oxidation [ 22 ], catalytic reduction [ 23 ] etc.…”