Bimetallic Co-Fe-BTC/CN nanocomposite synthesised via a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method for highly efficient Reactive Yellow 145 dye photodegradation

Background: Reactive Yellow 145 (RY-145), a common organic dye-containing azo chromophore found in wastewater from the textile and printing industries, can cause serious environmental pollution and pose a huge threat to human beings and various natural organisms. Methods: We herein introduce for the first time a nanocomposite based on a bimetallic Co-Fe-BTC metal-organic framework (MOF) and a graphitic carbon nitride (CN) using a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. It was shown that the Co-Fe-BTC/CN nanocomposite with band-gap energies of 2.38-2.52 eV and photocurrent in-tensity of 0.352 mA/cm2 can effectively excite photosensitive reaction and improve ion transport and electrolyte diffusion. Significant findings: The performance of this nanocomposite material was examined in the decomposition of Reactive Yellow 145 (RY-145) dye under sunlight irradiation. The factors which might affect the dye removal process including Co:Fe molar ratio, dye concentration, pH, catalyst dosage and reaction radicals were evaluated. Based on the electrochemical data, we have been able to propose the mechanism and provide an insightful study of the photodegradation process. Our results also demonstrated that the nanocomposite sample with Co2-Fe8- BTC/CN doping exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity with 99.38% of RY-145 degradation after 40 min, as compared to Co-BTC/CN (89.76%) and Fe-BTC/CN (93.68%).