Facile Synthesis of L-Tryptophan Functionalized Magnetic Nanophotocatalyst Supported by Copper Nanoparticles for Selective Reduction of Organic Pollutants and Degradation of Azo Dyes

Herein, a simplistic co-precipitation method was utilized to synthesize SPION@L-Tryptophan (LT)-Cu 2+ /Cu 0 nanocomposite and probed as a novel nano-photocatalyst for the sequestration of aromatic contaminants and azo dyes. Magnetically recyclable nano-photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Brunauer–Emmett–teller (BET), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD shows the presence of new peaks, which justifies the formation of SPION@LT-Cu 0 nano-photocatalyst. In XPS, the peak at a binding energy of 931.93 eV shows the reduction of Cu 2+ into Cu 0 . The catalytic efficacy of SPION@LT-Cu 2+ /Cu 0 was thoroughly investigated for the photocatalytic reduction of nitrobenzene, 4-nitroaniline, 4-nitrophenol, methylene blue, methyl orange, and congo red in the presence of NaBH 4 . In addition, the synthesized nano-photocatalyst is highly efficient for the degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation. The results show that the synthesized nanocatalyst exhibits high catalytic efficacy and can be easily separated using an external magnetic field. Efficient catalytic activity, economic feasibility, and efficient reusability even after seven cycles ascertained that SPION@LT-Cu 2+ /C 0 is a potential nano-photocatalyst for removing NB, 4-NA, 4-NP, MB, MO, and CR from wastewater. Graphical Abstract