Hormonal-mediated Cicer arietinum L. leaf extract-assisted synthesis of a ternary g-C3N4/ZrTiO4/V2O5 nanocomposite for photocatalytic remediation of organic pollutants

Abstract

A novel green synthesis approach was developed for the fabrication of a g-C₃N₄/ZrTiO₄/V₂O₅ nanocomposite (NC) using a hormone-treated plant extract as a biogenic reducing and stabilizing agent. The hormone-assisted synthesis had a significant influence on the physical, chemical, and morphological properties of the nanocomposite compared to the control route. The obtained NCs, confirmed by XRD, FTIR, UV-vis, SEM, and EDX analyses, exhibited enhanced crystallinity, a reduced band gap, and a distinct morphological transformation from nanorods to nanocubic structures. Elemental composition analysis confirmed the successful integration of Zr, Ti, and V components, improving the photocatalytic performance of the material. The hormone-mediated g-C₃N₄/ZrTiO₄/V₂O₅ NC achieved an 89.14% degradation efficiency of Rose Bengal dye, maintaining its activity over three successive cycles without notable loss of performance. Furthermore, the photocatalyst efficiently converted degradation intermediates, such as benzyl alcohols, into valuable substituted benzaldehyde derivatives with yields ranging from 75% to 92%, demonstrating sustained catalytic stability over four consecutive cycles. These findings highlight the potential of hormone-assisted green synthesis as a promising and sustainable approach for designing advanced photocatalytic nanomaterials.