Photocatalytic degradation of malachite Green dye using Ti3C2 MXene nanosheets decorated with Fe3O4 NPs under visible light irradiation

Abstract

In this research, a novel Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene nanocomposite was prepared by a simple ultrasonic method by combining Ti₃C₂ MXene and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, and was used for the remediation of malachite green (MG) dye, as an example of an organic pollutant, from the environment through photocatalytic degradation under visible light irradiation. A wide variety of techniques were used to characterize the synthesized Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene nanohybrid, including X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), surface area analysis, scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in addition to the optical properties and band gap analysis. The results showed that the Ti₃AlC₂ MAX phase’s Al layer was successfully selectively etched, resulting in the two-dimensional layered Ti₃C₂ MXene (average diameter of 78 nm). Additionally, the results revealed the preparation of the cubic Fe₃O₄ phase (average particle size of 11 nm), which was distributed homogeneously on the Ti₃C₂ MXene surface, as indicated by XRD, SEM, and TEM analysis. Moreover, the Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene nanophotocatalyst exhibits good visible light absorption ability under visible light (> 420 nm) due to its huge surface area, excellent conductivity, and sufficient quantity of active sites, and the accessibility of all elements required for effective photocatalysis. Accordingly, under 300 min of visible light exposure, the Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene nanophotocatalyst successfully photodegraded MG dye more efficiently than the pure MXene with a removal percentage of 95.4% with 0.5 g/L loading. Overall, the current study has shown that the Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene nanophotocatalyst has the potential to be a valuable photocatalyst for exceptionally efficient wastewater treatment applications.