Development of a reusable Fe₂O₃-PANI/CdS nanocomposite for efficient and sustainable treatment of malachite green dye

This study reports the synthesis and characterization of a Fe₂O₃-PANI/CdS nanocomposite for the photocatalytic degradation of Malachite Green dye under visible light irradiation. The successful formation of the synthesized nanocomposite was confirmed through various characterization techniques, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Under optimized conditions, the Fe₂O₃-PANI/CdS nanocomposite demonstrated excellent photocatalytic performance, achieving a degradation efficiency of 95.7% for Malachite Green dye within 30 min. Kinetic studies revealed that the degradation process followed a pseudo-first-order reaction model. Furthermore, the nanocomposite exhibited good reusability, maintaining high degradation efficiency after five consecutive reuse cycles. These results demonstrate the potential of the Fe₂O₃-PANI/CdS nanocomposite as a promising photocatalyst for wastewater treatment applications.