Muhammad Humayun

Different strategies can be employed to enhance and adjust the overall characteristics and potential applications of the nanomaterials. Herein, ZnO–SiO 2 , Mn/ZnO–SiO 2 and ZnO–SiO 2 /PVA based nanocomposites were synthesized by sol-gel and in-situ polymerization methods by taking the Zn(CH 3 COO)·2H 2 O as ZnO, TEOS as the SiO 2 and Mn(SO 4 ) 2 ·7H 2 O as the Mn precursors. The present study investigates various aspects of ZnO–SiO 2 , Mn/ZnO–SiO 2 , and ZnO–SiO 2 /PVA nanomaterials, including electronic transition, surface morphology, elemental composition, chemical structure elucidation, thermal stability, and phase changes. To accomplish this, several techniques were employed. All the results confirmed the formation of the synthesized composite materials. Moreover, the catalytic and photocatalytic activities of the synthesized composites were studied through the degradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye, etc. The results confirmed that the synthesized nanocomposites exhibited good catalytic and photocatalytic activities towards removal of methylene blue (MB) dye removal. Further, the catalytic/photocatalytic activity of ZnO–SiO 2 , Mn/ZnO–SiO 2 and ZnO–SiO 2 /PVA nanocomposites were also compared towards the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye and it was verified that the Mn/ZnO–SiO 2 nanocomposite show high photocatalytic activity among the three nanocomposites i.e., ZnO–SiO 2 , Mn/ZnO–SiO 2 and ZnO–SiO 2 /PVA with removal efficiencies of 81 %, 77 % and 77 %, after 6 h, 5 h and 9 h respectively, under UV light illumination. Moreover, the photodegradation mechanism was also studied and finally, the biological activities like antioxidant and antileishmanial were also studied and compared.

To simulate natural photosynthesis, scientists have developed an artificial Z-scheme system that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using two different semiconductors. Researchers are striving to improve the performance of Z-scheme systems by improving light absorption, developing redox couples with high stability, and finding new cocatalysts. Here, we report the synthesis and utilization of LaFeO3/g-C3N4 as a Z-scheme system for water reduction to produce hydrogen and organic dye degradation under visible light irradiation. The as-fabricated photocatalyst revealed exceptional activity for H2 production (i.e., 351 µmol h−1g−1), which is 14.6 times higher compared to that of the single-component g-C3N4 (i.e., 24 µmol h−1g−1). In addition, the composite photocatalyst degraded 87% of Methylene Blue (MB) and 94% of Rhodamine B (RhB) in 2 h. Various experimental analyses confirmed that the exceptional performance of the LaFeO3/g-C3N4 Z-scheme catalyst is due to remarkably enhanced charge carrier separation and improved light absorption. The development of this highly effective Z-scheme heterostructure photocatalyst will pave the way for the sustainable development of newly designed Z-scheme scheme systems that will tackle energy and environmental crises.