A novel Ag/g-C3N4/ZnO/Fe3O4 nanohybrid superparamagnetic photocatalyst for efficient degradation of emerging pharmaceutical contaminant (Pantoprazole) from aqueous sources

Owing to their remarkable properties, such as concentration of energetic photons, scattering of photons and demonstration of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), the use of plasmonic noble metals in the construction of a nanohybrid photocatalyst holds great promise of enhancing photodegradation rates. The current work puts forth a facile route of fabrication of a robust Ag/g-C3N4/ZnO/Fe3O4 hybrid, superparamagnetic nano-photocatalyst for express photodegradation of pantoprazole, a prototype of a pharmaceutical. The absorption edge of the nano-scaled hybrid photocatalyst was found to be ~ 2.25 eV suggesting fine-tuning of band edges of its moieties. Photoluminescence studies and photoelectrochemical investigations of the hybrid photocatalyst revealed a diminished rate of electron-hole recombination that further suggested enhanced separation of charge carriers attained through synergistic effects of individual moieties. g-C3N4 and Fe3O4 proved to be of immense consequence vis-à-vis separation of photoinduced charge carriers. Alone the photocatalyst achieved 98.24% disintegration of pantoprazole within 40 min with a stupendous pseudo-first order velocity constant of 0.10231 min−1. The performance of the quaternary photocatalyst was also evaluated in presence of various co-existing substances as well as in environmental water samples.