Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of malachite green dye by highly stable visible-light-responsive Fe-based tri-composite photocatalysts

A novel visible-light-sensitive ZnVFeO(4) photocatalyst has been fabricated by the precipitation method at different pH values for the enhanced photocatalytic degradation of malachite green (MG) dye as a representative pollutant under visible light irradiation at neutral pH conditions. The structure and optical characteristics of the prepared photocatalysts were investigated by XRD, FTIR, N2 adsorption–desorption, TEM, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and photoluminescence (PL) analyses. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of ZnVFeO(4) photocatalysts superior the efficiency to be more than that of the mono and bi-metal oxides of iron and iron zinc oxides, respectively. The best sample, ZnVFeO(4) at pH 3, significantly enhances the degradation rate under visible light to be 12.7 × 10(−3) min(−1) and can retain a stable photodegradation efficiency of 90.1% after five cycles. The effect of the catalyst dose and the initial dye concentration on the photodegradation process were studied. This promising behavior under visible light may be attributed to the low bandgap and the decreased electron–hole recombination rate of the ZnVFeO(4) heterostructures. The scavenger experiment confirmed that the hydroxyl radicals induced the MG photodegradation process effectively. Hence, the ZnVFeO(4) is a reliable visible-light-responsive heterostructure photocatalyst with excellent potential for the photodegradation of organic pollutants in wastewater treatment. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-20745-6.