ZVI@MnFe2O4/Polythiophene Heterojunction as a Visible-Light-Driven Photo-Fenton Catalyst for Wastewater Treatment

The synthetic industry has shortened human lifespans because of environmental contamination. Numerous physicochemical methods can be used to decompose the released organic contaminants, but heterogeneous photocatalysis stands out among them. The creation of a novel sunlight-active heterogeneous photocatalyst, ZVI@MnFe2O4/PTh, for possible degradation of RhB dye is discussed in this study. The nanocomposite was fabricated using the hydrothermal method and in situ polymerization of thiophene. The ternary composite photocatalyst (ZVI@MnFe2O4/PTh) and photocatalysts (ZVI@MnFe2O4 and MnFe2O4/PTh) were well characterized in terms of structure (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), morphology (scanning electron microscopy), composition (energy-dispersive X-ray), and crystallinity (X-ray diffraction). UV–visible spectroscopic analysis (Tauc plot) was used to determine the energy bandgaps of catalysts. The characterization study supports the successful assembly of ZVI@MnFe2O4 nanoparticles and polythiophene. To evaluate the photocatalytic performance, the photocatalytically helped degradation of Rhodamine B dye from wastewater was also investigated over the new catalysts. The designed heterojunction enhances photogenerated charge separation and stimulates the photocatalytic process. The proposed study’s findings demonstrated that the novel composite’s sunlight-active photocatalytic effectiveness (99% in 90 min at pH 4) was enhanced against the degradation of Rhodamine B dye. Different models were utilized to predict the reaction’s kinetics, and RSM was utilized as a statistical technique to examine the individual and then interaction effects of the influencing parameters. The RSM results were supported by the numerical values of the optimized parameters, which were pH = 4, H2O2 = 10 mM, and composite dose = 20 mg/50 mL, utilizing a 100 ppm RhB solution.