Fe-ZrO2 imbedded graphene like carbon nitride for acarbose (ACB) photo-degradation intermediate study.

Graphical abstract Highlights • Efficient Fe-ZrO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst successfully prepared. • FZ-GCN is efficient for the degradation of acarbose (ACB) and rhodamine (RhB). • Prepared catalyst have more degradation ability under visible light. • Acarbose (ACB) degradation products was studied. Abstract Fe-ZrO 2 imbedded g-C 3 N 4 was successfully prepaid by solvo-thermal method for the photo-degradation of anti-diabetic drug, acarbose (ACB). The synthesized material were characterized with the help of FT-IR-Spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV–vis-Spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, HPLC-MS and scanning electron microscopy. These characterization results indicated that the target materials was well prepared and photo-catalytically active. The target catalyst (Fe-ZrO 2 /g-C 3 N 4) showed very high photo-degradation rate against acarbose (ACB) and rhodamine (RhB). Presence of heterojunction between FZ and GCN increased the surface area and light absorbance capability. HPLC-MS scrutiny indicated that photo-degradation process, under visible light, split the ACB into lot of intermediates and finally degraded completely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]