Enhanced solar-driven photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes using sono-dispersed mesoporous MgAl2O4 over carbon based materials

Background: The presence of organic dyes in water poses serious environmental and health concerns, necessitating effective remediation strategies. Method: This research investigates the synthesis of mesoporous MgAl2O4-carbon active nanocomposites, MAS-CA (10) and MAS-C3N4(10), via a two-step method: (1) MAS prepared by solution combustion technique, and (2) MAS-CA(10) and MAS-C3N4(10) nanocomposites obtained by ultrasound-assisted impregnation of MAS with carbon active and graphitic carbon nitride, respectively. Finding: The incorporation of carbon active significantly enhanced the textural properties of MAS-CA, including a high specific surface area (194.9 m(2)/g), large pore volume (0.81 cm(3)/g), and increased pore diameter (16.6 nm), facilitating improved dye adsorption and photocatalytic efficiency. The optimized MAS-CA(10) nanocomposite demonstrated remarkable photocatalytic performance, achieving 87.1 % methylene blue (MB) removal, 73 % eosin Y (EY) degradation, and 64.1 % acid orange 7 (AO7) degradation within 140 min under simulated solar irradiation. The influence of initial solution pH, photocatalyst reusability (only 7 % activity drop after 4 cycles), and the proposed mechanism for MB degradation over MAS-CA(10) were investigated. The calculated apparent rate constant for MB degradation over MAS-CA(10) was 0.0174 min(-1) . This study presents a facile and costeffective approach for developing highly efficient mesoporous nanophotocatalysts for organic dye remediation under solar light.