Nanoarchitecture of graphene nanosheets decorated with NiCr layered double hydroxide for sonophotocatalytic degradation of refractory antibiotics

Highly efficient and durable catalysts for wastewater treatment are urgently required to tackle critical environmental issues. In this regard, NiCr LDH (NC), NiCr LDH-GO (NC-GO), and NiCr LDH-rGO (NC-rGO) nanocomposites were synthesized. The results of XRD, EDX, and FTIR analyses not only explored the crystallographic and chemical structures of catalysts but also confirmed the successful synthesis. Further morphological, physical, chemical, and optical characteristics of the catalysts were evaluated more by SEM, HRTEM, BET, DRS, and XPS techniques. The as-synthesized catalysts were used for the efficient mineralization of rifadin under 50 W LED visible light irradiation and the ultrasonic power of 150 W. Amongst, 0.75 g L⁻¹ of NC-rGO demonstrated high sonophotocatalytic efficiency (88%) in natural pH (pH = 8) of 15 mg L⁻¹ of rifadin. The introduced system is also powerful for the decontamination of pharmaceutical-containing wastewater as well as other refractory antibiotics. Moreover, the radical trapping experiments demonstrated that the main reactive species involved in the degradation of rifadin are ^•OH, h⁺, and O₂^•–. The possible intermediates were thoroughly investigated using GCMS analysis. Also, NC-rGO demonstrated superior antibacterial activity in comparison with NC, NC-GO samples.