Fabrication of Fe-doped ZnO/nanocellulose nanocomposite as an efficient photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue under visible light

In this work, a photocatalytic nanocomposite, Fe-doped ZnO/nanocellulose, was synthesized using an in-situ method and examined for methylene blue (MB) degradation. For purpose, pure ZnO (PZ) by the chemical precipitation then subjected to Fe+3 doping with different concentrations of Fe3+ (1, 3, 5 mol%). The PZ (FZ) samples were characterized several standard analyses. UV–Vis DRS analysis also used investigate effect on bandgap PZ. enhanced activity under visible light. degradation efficiency FZ (> 50%) compared pristine (36.91%) during same period. catalyst highest (94.21%) conjugated broom corn stalk-derived nanocellulose (NC) at varying NC/Zn2+ molar ratios (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) various NC hydroxyl group surface consequently improved performance samples. ability optimized photocatalyst MB assessed. operating parameters such as pH, dosage, initial concentration investigated 98.84% achieved optimum condition. Besides, regeneration study indicated great nanocomposite no loss in its efficiency. facile synthesis fast rate make it promising candidate real-world wastewater treatment.