Novel eco-friendly Mg-Zn-Ca-Mn nanocomposite for water treatment and environmentally remediation textile and pharmaceutical industries effluents

The current work elucidates the significance of nanometal oxide composite for enhanced environmental remediation applications. An efficient photocatalyst has been prepared by preparing the multi-metal oxide nanocomposite by combining MgO, ZnO, CaO, and MnO₂ NPs during the synthesis process. The nanocomposite was prepared using a simple sol-gel method, mixing each precursor and NaOH as a reducing agent. XRD analysis confirms the composite's high purity and crystallinity, revealing a cubic MgO and CaO phase alongside hexagonal ZnO and MnO₂ phases, with a calculated crystallite size of 19.74 nm. FESEM analysis reveals a rod-like MgO structure surrounded by agglomerated spherical ZnO, CaO, and MnO₂ particles, indicating strong surface charge interactions. EDX confirms the successful formation of a pure nanocomposite. UV-Vis spectroscopy confirmed distinct absorption peaks at 226 nm (MgO), 273 nm (MnO₂), 313 nm (CaO), and 382 nm (ZnO), indicative of the coexistence of multiple oxides within a single matrix. The results confirm the formation of Mg-Zn-Ca-Mn nanocomposite with excellent physio-chemical properties. Additionally, the nanocomposite demonstrates excellent antioxidant activity, stabilizing DPPH radicals with a maximum scavenging efficiency of 97.45% at 100 mg/mL. Under sunlight irradiation, it achieves 99.68% degradation of Rhodamine B in 60 minutes and 98.55% degradation of Amlodipine in 90 minutes, following pseudo-first-order kinetics. Reusability tests confirm its structural and functional stability over five cycles, reducing degradation efficiency by only 4.1% for Rhodamine B and 5.3% for Amlodipine. The characterizations and observations indicated that the prepared nanocomposite can be an excellent source for environmental remediation applications.