Effect of Zn doping on physico-chemical properties of cobalt ferrite for the photodegradation of amoxicillin and deactivation of E. coli

Abstract

In this study, ZnxCo1−xFe2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation method. The prepared ZnxCo1−xFe2O4 NPs were annealed at 500 0C for 3 h. The nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, BET, UV–VIS–DRS spectroscopy, PL spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, VSM, and XPS. The XRD patterns indicated the formation of cubic inverse/mixed spinel structure of ZnxCo1−xFe2O4 NPs and the change in structural parameters with increasing Zn concentration. The agglomerated and cubic morphology of the nanoparticles was confirmed by TEM. The magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization (Ms), residual magnetization (Mr), and coercivity (Hc) were calculated from the hysteresis curves. The performance of the obtained nanoparticles was studied on the photodegradation of amoxicillin using visible light irradiation and the deactivation of E. Coli. Zn0.4Co0.6Fe2O4 NPs showed enhanced results such as saturation magnetization (68 emu/g), photodegradation (89%), and bacterial inactivation (11 mm zone of inhibition). The results indicate that Zn0.4Co0.6Fe2O4 is of great potential application value in wastewater remediation.