Magnetically separable ternary heterostructure photocatalyst CuFe2O4/g-C3N4/rGO: Enhancing photocatalytic degradation and bacterial inactivation

In this work, the CuFe2O4/g-C3N4/rGO ternary nanocomposite was prepared by hydrothermal methods. The synthesized photocatalysts underwent comprehensive characterization of their physicochemical properties using various analytical techniques like XRD, XPS, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, and UV–vis DRS analysis. Additionally, the study delved into the detailed discussion of the photocatalytic degradation of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) and tetracycline (TC) solutions, thoroughly exploring the photocatalytic mechanisms involved in these processes. The results displayed that the CuFe2O4/g-C3N4/rGO ternary nanocomposite composites revealed remarkable photocatalytic activities than the pure CuFe2O4, CuFe2O4/g-C3N4 and CuFe2O4/rGO catalysts, attaining 90 % degradation for RB5 and 67 % for TC after 150 min of Ultraviolet A irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the production of heterojunctions between CuFe2O4, g-C3N4 and rGO, which enhances charge transfer efficiency and separations. Moreover, the possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism proposed is based on the generation of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals during photocatalytic degradation. Moreover, the excellent performance of CuFe2O4/g-C3N4/rGO ternary composites was demonstrated in the photocatalytic inactivation of E. coli. The results revealed the capability of these composites to achieve the inactivation of 7 log10 cfu mL−1 of bacterial cells after 150 min of exposure to visible light. •CuFe2O4/g-C3N4/rGO demonstrated outstanding efficiency in degrading RB5 dye, TC drug and Bacterial Inactivation of E. coli.•The photocatalyst could be magnetically separated from the reaction solution.•The establishment of reactive species and the degradation mechanism were elucidated through scavenging experiments.•The photocatalyst demonstrated high reusability and recyclability under neutral conditions.