Synthesis, structural and optical characteristics of Fe3O4/activated carbon photocatalysts to adsorb pesticide waste

The alarming levels of wastewater pollution should be seen in terms of not just the human aspect but also lowering the quality of animals, plants, and microorganisms. This can be solved by developing photocatalyst-based wastewater treatment. In this work, composite Fe3O4/activated carbon (AC) was synthesized with various pH solvents of 0.5 M (150 mL) acid, salt, and base solutions. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy were performed to investigate the existing functional groups, structural and optical properties, and performance of the catalysts. The longest distance optical phonon vibrations, minimum crystallite size, and narrowing band gap are significant properties to enhance photocat- alytic activity. Brightness calculation in digital image processing also shows a linear correlation between percentage degradation and red, green, blue inten- sity. In this context, improvement in the properties of composite Fe3O4/AC- mediated photocatalytic degradation has shown great potential to break down pesticide wastes.