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Abstract <p>Organic pollutants and microorganisms in industrial wastewater pose serious threats to the environment and human health. In this work, we report the synthesis of multifunctional Au@ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ ternary nanocomposites through a rapid and sample solvothermal process. The established protocol allows the formation of well-dispersed Au@ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ heterojunctions without the need for ligands, bases, or surfactants. We believe that dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) plays a key role in directing the growth of the nanostructures during the solvothermal synthesis. The formation of the ternary nanocomposites was confirmed by XRD, TEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy, PL, BET and XPS. The resulting nanocomposite exhibits a well-defined morphology: ZnO nanoparticles display an elongated shape (~10 nm), Au nanoparticles are quasi-spherical (30–50 nm), and α-Fe₂O₃ presents a nanotubular structure with diameters around 50 nm and lengths ranging from 250 to 400 nm. The composite also shows a bandgap energy of 3.3 eV and a specific surface area of 23.49 m<sup>2</sup>/g, as determined by BET analysis. The optical studies anticipate that the produced Au@ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ ternary nanocomposites will provide significant photocatalytic efficiency. Indeed, the plasmonic property of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) can boost the absorption spectrum into the visible region. On the other hand, the hybrid ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ combination can creates an interference between the electronic states which increase the lifetime of the generated electron-hole pairs and therefore improve the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite. The photodegradation performance of the synthesized nanocomposites was evaluated under optimized conditions, focusing on the degradation of methylene blue dye (MB) and diuron pesticide under UV irradiation. The results revealed promising activity, with rate constants (k) of 28.35 × 10<sup>-3</sup> min<sup>-1</sup> for MB and 17.48 × 10<sup>-3</sup> min<sup>-1</sup> for diuron. These findings highlight the potential environmental application of this ternary Au@ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ nanocomposite particularly in wastewater treatment and organic pollutant removal.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>

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Synthesis, Characterization and Photocatalytic Evaluation of Multifunctional Ternary Au@ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ Nanocomposite for Organic Pollutant Removal

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月3日

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  • Mohamed Ali Saidani,
  • Anis Fkiri,
  • Wael Chouk,
  • Tariq Altalhi,
  • Amine Mezni

摘要

Abstract

Organic pollutants and microorganisms in industrial wastewater pose serious threats to the environment and human health. In this work, we report the synthesis of multifunctional Au@ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ ternary nanocomposites through a rapid and sample solvothermal process. The established protocol allows the formation of well-dispersed Au@ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ heterojunctions without the need for ligands, bases, or surfactants. We believe that dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) plays a key role in directing the growth of the nanostructures during the solvothermal synthesis. The formation of the ternary nanocomposites was confirmed by XRD, TEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy, PL, BET and XPS. The resulting nanocomposite exhibits a well-defined morphology: ZnO nanoparticles display an elongated shape (~10 nm), Au nanoparticles are quasi-spherical (30–50 nm), and α-Fe₂O₃ presents a nanotubular structure with diameters around 50 nm and lengths ranging from 250 to 400 nm. The composite also shows a bandgap energy of 3.3 eV and a specific surface area of 23.49 m2/g, as determined by BET analysis. The optical studies anticipate that the produced Au@ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ ternary nanocomposites will provide significant photocatalytic efficiency. Indeed, the plasmonic property of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) can boost the absorption spectrum into the visible region. On the other hand, the hybrid ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ combination can creates an interference between the electronic states which increase the lifetime of the generated electron-hole pairs and therefore improve the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite. The photodegradation performance of the synthesized nanocomposites was evaluated under optimized conditions, focusing on the degradation of methylene blue dye (MB) and diuron pesticide under UV irradiation. The results revealed promising activity, with rate constants (k) of 28.35 × 10-3 min-1 for MB and 17.48 × 10-3 min-1 for diuron. These findings highlight the potential environmental application of this ternary Au@ZnO/α-Fe₂O₃ nanocomposite particularly in wastewater treatment and organic pollutant removal.

Graphical Abstract