Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Spherical Nd3+ Substituted ZnFe2O4 Nanoparticles.

Loan T T Nguyen,Nguyen D Bui,Lan T H Nguyen,Thuan Van Tran,Hang T T Nguyen,Tan Van Lam,Thieng H Le,Hai Q Nguyen,Duyen Thi Cam Nguyen,Thanh T H Pham,Ngan T K Tran

doi:10.3390/ma14082054

Loan T T Nguyen, Nguyen D Bui + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14082054

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Abstract

In this study, nanocrystalline ZnNdxFe2−xO4 ferrites with x = 0.0, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05 were fabricated and used as a catalyst for dye removal potential. The effect of Nd3+ ions substitution on the structural, optical and photo-Fenton activity of ZnNdxFe2−xO4 has been investigated. The addition of Nd3+ ions caused a decrease in the grain size of ferrites, the reduction of the optical bandgap energies and thus could be well exploited for the catalytic study. The photocatalytic activity of the ferrite samples was evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) in the presence of H2O2 under visible light radiation. The results indicated that the ZnNdxFe2−xO4 samples exhibited higher removal efficiencies than the pure ZnFe2O4 ferrites. The highest degradation efficiency was 98.00%, attained after 210 min using the ZnNd0.03Fe1.97O4 sample. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the ZnFe2O4 doped with Nd3+ is explained due to the efficient separation mechanism of photoinduced electron and holes. The effect of various factors (H2O2 oxidant concentration and catalyst loading) on the degradation of RhB dye was clarified.

Highlights

It has been proved that the discharge of organic compounds, including dyes, from manufacturing plants led to growing contamination in the aquatic ecosystem [1,2]
Such synthesized nanomaterials were tested for photocatalytic degradation of colors under visible light irradiation
The as-synthesized particles were characterized using a number of techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy

Summary

Introduction

It has been proved that the discharge of organic compounds, including dyes, from manufacturing plants led to growing contamination in the aquatic ecosystem [1,2]. TiO2 [6,7,8], WO3 [9,10,11,12,13], and BiVO4 [14,15] are typical photocatalysts that have been well studied for dyes degradation Nano ferrites, another material, have recently received a great deal of interest due to their high stability, strong magnetic properties, and high catalytic performance. Several studies have reported the enhancement in the catalytic activity of ferrites with different metal substitution and change in cation distribution. The synthesis of samarium (Sm3+) substituted manganese ferrite nanoparticles (MnFe2-xSmxO4) using oleic acid as a surfactant was reported by Rashmi et al [41] Such synthesized nanomaterials were tested for photocatalytic degradation of colors under visible light irradiation. The effect of catalyst loading, H2O2 concentration, and contact time on the photo catalytic activity of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles was surveyed meticulously

Materials and Methods

Characterization

Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B

Infflluence of the Catalyst Loading

Conclusions