Table 2 Comparison of the efficiency of the synthesized photocatalyst with some previously reported photocatalysts for photodegradation of imidacloprid.

1

ZnO/CoFe₂O₄ magnetic nanocomposite

[Imidacloprid] = 5 ppm, ZnO/CoFe₂O₄ = 10 g/L, pH = 10, r.t., 0.75 h

100

⁵⁸

2

H₃PW₁₂O₄₀/TiO₂-In₂S₃

[Imidacloprid] = 8 ppm, H₃PW₁₂O₄₀/TiO₂-In₂S₃ = 2 g/L, visible light (λ = 400 nm), 5 h

82.7

⁷⁷

3

GO/Fe₃O₄/TiO₂-NiO

[Imidacloprid] = 10 ppm, GO/Fe₃O₄/TiO₂-NiO = 26 g/L, pH = 9, visible light, 0.5 h

97.34

⁵⁹

4

g-C₃N₄/ZnO (20:80)

[Imidacloprid] = 10 ppm, g-C₃N₄/ZnO = 0.6 g/L, UV-C light, 0.5 h

95.6

⁷⁸

5

P-doped g-C₃N₄/fullerene (C60/PCN)

[Imidacloprid] = 25.5 ppm, [H₂O₂] = 1.5 × 10^–4 mol/L, C60/PCN = 0.6 g/L, pH = 4, Light intensity = 750 lx., r.t., 6 h

95

⁷⁹

6

Zn_0.1Cd_0.9S/SnIn₄S₈

[Imidacloprid] = 5 ppm, Zn_0.1Cd_0.9S/SnIn₄S₈ = 0.2 g/L, visible light, 4 h

55

⁸⁰

7

Ag₂O/g-C₃N₄

[Imidacloprid] = 10 ppm, Ag₂O/g-C₃N₄ = 1 g/L, visible light, 2 h

80

⁸¹

8

This work

[Imidacloprid] = 10 ppm, CQDs-SH/CdS QDs = 1 g/L, visible light, pH = 9, 1.5 h

90.13