Synthesis, characterization of FeNi3@SiO2@CuS for enhance solar photocatalytic degradation of atrazine herbicides: Application of RSM

This study was focused on the response surface methodology modeling (RSM) for the removal of Atrazine residue (ATZ) using nanocomposite. The FeNi3@SiO2@CuS nanocomposite was fabricated by co-precipitation and sol-gel methodologies, and their properties were studied by XRD, FTIR, VSM, and SEM techniques. The synthesis core-shell composite was used to degrade atrazine herbicide (ATZ) from synthetic wastewater. The efficiency of FeNi3@SiO2@CuS was calculated as a function of different input parameters (pH, ATZ concentration, catalyst concentration, H2O2 concentration, and reaction time by using a central composite design (CCD) adapted from response surface methodology. The CCD created a matrix of 60 runs of the experiment to look into how the five input elements interacted with one another. A reduced quadratic model was created using the findings and demonstrated good predictability of outcomes consistent with the research findings. Variance analysis (ANOVA) indicated that the chosen model was highly significant (p < 0.0001), and the coefficients of determination R2, adjusted R2, and predicted R2 were 0.9587, 0.9513, and 0.9380, respectively, confirming that the second-order regression model had been satisfactorily adjusted to obtained data. Furthermore, the findings provide validation that the degradation rate of ATZ adheres to a pseudo-first-order kinetic model, exhibiting an impressive R2 value surpassing 0.98. Through the use of a numerical optimization technique, a 95.24 % ATZ elimination was represented by the desirability of 81.12 %. This study suggests that sunlight, catalyst, and H2O2 together have a significant influence on ATZ degradation. Additionally, RSM was an appropriate process for optimizing the factors related to the elimination of ATZ by a solar-induced photocatalytic process.