Facile synthesis of GO and g-C₃N₄ nanosheets encapsulated magnetite ternary nanocomposite for superior photocatalytic degradation of phenol

In this study, the synthesis of Fe₃O₄@GO@g-C₃N₄ ternary nanocomposite for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of phenol has been investigated. The surface modification of Fe₃O₄ was performed through layer-by-layer electrostatic deposition meanwhile the heterojunction structure of ternary nanocomposite was obtained through sonicated assisted hydrothermal method. The photocatalysts were characterized for their crystallinity, surface morphology, chemical functionalities, and band gap energy. The Fe₃O₄@GO@g-C₃N₄ ternary nanocomposite achieved phenol degradation of ∼97%, which was significantly higher than that of Fe₃O₄@GO (∼75%) and Fe₃O₄ (∼62%). The enhanced photoactivity was due to the efficient charge carrier separation and desired band structure. The photocatalytic performance was further enhanced with the addition of hydrogen peroxide, in which phenol degradation up to 100% was achieved in 2 h irradiation time. The findings revealed that operating parameters have significant influences on the photocatalytic activities. It was found that lower phenol concentration promoted higher activity. In this study, 0.3 g of Fe₃O₄@GO@g-C₃N₄ was found to be the optimized photocatalyst for phenol degradation. At the optimized condition, the reaction rate constant was reported as 6.96 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹. The ternary photocatalyst showed excellent recyclability in three consecutive cycles, which confirmed the stability of this ternary nanocomposite for degradation applications.