Development of heterogeneous photocatalysis delafossite structured Ag doped Cd-Cu ferrite spinel nanoparticles for an efficient photodegradation process

Abstract

The photodegradation of sunset yellow dye was efficiently achieved using Ag-Doped Cd-Cu Spinel Nanoferrite as a photocatalyst under ambient circumstances. The method demonstrates economic feasibility, environmental sustainability, non-toxicity, scalability, and the absence of toxic and volatile organic solvents and surfactants. Ag-doped Cd-Cu spinel nanoferrite (Cd0.5Cu0.5-xAgxFe2O4, x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) was prepared using the green co-precipitation method. X-ray diffraction patterns represented the formation of a major spinel phase and a minor delafossite phase. XPS spectra show the multiple variant valences of the constituted elements (Cu+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Ag+, Fe2+, Fe3+, and Fe4+). The Mossbauer spectroscopy measurements confirmed the stability of the delafossite phase. The HRTEM, SEM, and elemental mapping indicated homogenous elemental distributions inside the samples. The prepared nanoparticles exhibited large specific surface areas between 94 and 161 m2/g, indicating their potential applications in chemical and biological fields. The UV–visible light absorption of these materials suggested the possibility of their use as photocatalysts under visible light irradiation. Various effects, such as pH, the concentration of dye, catalyst dose, and the amount of H2O2, were studied. The photodegradability of Sunset Yellow increases with higher silver doping as well as the majority of the delafossite phase due to the increase in specific surface area. The COD reduction is 71.5 % in optimum conditions. The possible photocatalytic degradation pathway of Sunset Yellow was suggested based on GC–MS analysis. A reaction mechanism involving HO• as an effective oxidant was proposed.