Photocatalytic Degradation of Chlorpyrifos using Fe-doped ZnO/Activated Carbon Nanocomposite

The present research reports the synthesis of Iron-Zinc oxide nanocomposite supported on activated carbon synthesised from Schima wallichii biomass. The nanocomposite was produced using a hydrothermal process and its physicochemical characterization was carried out using several analytical methods such as Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR), Photoluminescence (PL), UV-Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) and BET analyser. The prepared material was assessed for its degradation efficiency on chlorpyrifos (CPs) under visible light irradiation. The photocatalyst demonstrated optimal conditions achieving 98% CPs degradation with 0.05g catalyst dosage, 150 ppm initial concentration, 60-min of irradiation, and pH 2. Furthermore, recycling studies indicated the material's promising reusability, maintaining 62.7% efficiency even after multiple cycles.