Sunlight-driven photocatalytic degradation of Norfloxacin antibiotic in wastewater by ZnSe microsphere functionalized RGO composite

The release of hazardous pollutants into the water, such as dyes, phenolic compounds, pesticides, different heavy metals, and antibiotics is the primary cause of environmental pollution. The solar energy-based photocatalysis technique has the potential to eliminate pollutants from the aquatic environment. ZnSe is a significant and commendable II-VI group photocatalyst having 2.82 eV direct band gap energy. Its performance towards degrading antibiotics in the presence of light was improved by anchoring it on the Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) matrix. Solution-processable RGO-ZnSe composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Several spectroscopic studies like Raman spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy were employed to illustrate the optical properties of the composites. The findings demonstrate that the ZnSe microsphere was supported effectively onto the two-dimensional RGO matrix. The performance of as-synthesized RGO-ZnSe composites was assessed based on the photocatalytic degradation of the antibiotic Norfloxacin in the presence of simulated solar light. An optimized RGO-ZnSe composite degrades approximately 83.5 percent of Norfloxacin in 40 min, while controlled-ZnSe photocatalysis only yields 33 percent in an identical experimental condition. The optimized RGO-ZnSe achieves the highest degradation reaction rate constant (k) of Norfloxacin (k = 0.057 min-1), and the k value is 4.38 times greater compared to the controlled-ZnSe microsphere. The light-dependent catalytic degradation mechanism was examined by employing scavenger experiments which gave away the responsible reactive radicals. Our results establish that the photo-generated hole has the leading role in the degradation of Norfloxacin in our system. In addition to that, the oxide radical and hydroxyl radical has also an important role in the degradation of Norfloxacin under our experimental condition. The finding suggests that the addition of RGO has enhanced photocatalytic performance and cyclic stability by preventing photo-generated electron-hole pair recombination. The photocatalytic oxidative deactivation mechanism of the Norfloxacin antibiotic was proposed. Our study offers new perceptiveness for the design of efficient solution-processable solar light-responsible photocatalysts for environmental pollution remediation.