Comprehensive Investigation of CuFe2O4/ZnO/RGO Ternary Nanocomposites for Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Acid Orange Dye

A CuFe 2 O 4 /ZnO/RGO ternary nanocomposite and its pristine materials was synthesized and investigated for the photocatalytic degradation of acid orange. The synthesized materials were were characterized using XRD, FTIR, SEM–EDX, elemental mapping, XPS, and UV–Vis spectroscopy. XRD confirmed the coexistence of CuFe 2 O 4 , ZnO, and RGO phases, with crystallite sizes of 19.23 nm, 26.42 nm, and 17.24 nm for CuFe 2 O 4 , ZnO, and CuFe 2 O 4 /ZnO/RGO, respectively. SEM–EDX and elemental mapping confirmed the good interfacial contact and homogeneous distribution of Cu, Fe, Zn, O, and C. XPS confirmed Cu 2+ , Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ , and Zn 2+ chemical states, together with lattice and surface oxygen species and the RGO carbon framework. UV–Vis analysis revealed optical band gaps of 1.57 eV, 3.41 eV, 2.75 eV, and 1.41 eV for CuFe 2 O 4 , ZnO, RGO, and CuFe 2 O 4 /ZnO/RGO, respectively. Under sunlight irradiation, the ternary nanocomposite achieved 85% acid orange degradation under the initial photocatalytic comparison. At the optimized catalyst dosage of 30 mg, the degradation efficiency increased to 88%, with a rate constant of 2.155 ± 0.176 × 10 − 2 min -1 . The optimized acidic condition of pH 3 ± 0.1 further enhanced the degradation efficiency to 95%, with a rate constant of 2.953 ± 0.306 × 10 − 2 min -1 . Radical scavenger experiments confirming the dominant contribution of • OH, followed by h⁺ and • O 2 ⁻ , while e⁻ showed a comparatively lower contribution. The photocatalyst retained approximately 81% degradation efficiency after ten consecutive cycles.