Fabrication of Co3O4/CdO/clinoptilolite nanocomposite heterojunction with synergistically enhanced catalytic performance for photodegradation of pharmaceutical pollutants

Abstract

Environmental protection has become a global priority with the increasing use of renewable energy sources. Solar-light photocatalytic processes have attracted significant attention due to the highly effective degradation of organic pollutants and the use of renewable resources and. In this research, a green approach was employed to fabricate a Co3O4/CdO/clinoptilolite (CCC) heterojunction nanocomposite as an effective S-scheme photocatalyst for the photodegradation of levofloxacin under sunlight. As compared to single semiconductors, the CCC revealed the best performance in degradation of levofloxacin, indicating a great synergy effect between Co3O4 and CdO nanoparticles. Almost complete degradation of levofloxacin was attained by the CCC system with a reaction rate constant of 0.041212 min