Biowaste derived hydroxyapatite embedded on two-dimensional g-CN nanosheets for degradation of hazardous dye and pharmacological drug via Z-scheme charge transfer.

In recent years, there has been an increase in demand for inexpensive biowaste-derived photocatalysts for the degradation of hazardous dyes and pharmacological drugs. Here, we developed eggshell derived hydroxyapatite nanoparticles entrenched on two-dimensional g-CN nanosheets. The structural, morphological and photophysical behavior of the materials is confirmed through various analytical techniques. The photocatalytic performance of the highly efficient HAp/gCN photocatalyst is evaluated against methylene blue (MB) and doxycycline drug contaminates under UV-visible light exposure. The HAp/gCN photocatalyst exhibit excellent photocatalytic performance for MB dye (93.69%) and doxycycline drug (83.08%) compared to bare HAp and g-CN nanosheets. The ultimate point to note is that the HAp/gCN photocatalyst was recycled in four consecutive cycles without any degradation performance. Superoxide radicals play an important role in degradation performance, which has been confirmed by scavenger experiments. Therefore, the biowaste-derived HAp combined with gCN nanosheets is a promising photocatalyst for the degradation of hazardous dyes and pharmacological drug wastes.