Insights into oxygen defect enriched and non-metal dopant co modulated Fe3O4 nanospheres embedded WO3 nanorods for ameliorated photodegradation of doxycycline, Cr(VI) reduction and its genotoxicity

Heavy metals and organic pollutants in a complex composition are of serious environmental and socioeconomic threat which requires an effective remediation technology to address this issue. Herein, we have fabricated a N/S doped iron oxide (Fe3O4) decorated on oxygen vacancy enriched WO3 nanorods via facile hydrothermal method for a promising visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of doxycycline (DOXY) and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) reduction. The fabricated photocatalyst were investigated for its physio-chemical, morphological, structural and optical features using several analytical methods including XRD, XPS, SEM, HR-TEM, BET, PL, EIS, DRS and ESR analysis. As expected, the designed nanohybrid exhibited an extraordinary photocatalytic efficiency towards DOXY (0.0210 min−1) and Cr(VI) reduction (0.0219 min−1). The excellent reusability and magnetic property were proved by the six-cycle test and VSM analysis, respectively. The toxicity of the degraded end products were assessed towards the bacterial species. The non-toxic nature of the prepared photocatalysts was investigated by the genotoxicity test against Allium cepa. The oxygen vacancy enrichment and N/S dopant co-modulation contributed to excellent photocatalytic performance of photocatalyst. Here, the prepared photocatalyst was eco-friendly with superior photocatalytic property for large scale application to treat pharmaceutical pollutants present in the water bodies.