Enhancement of photocatalytic activities of ZnFe2O4 composite by incorporating halloysite nanotubes for effective elimination of aqueous organic pollutants.

Abstract

ZnFe2O4 is a highly desirable catalyst due to its exceptional photo-response in the visible light region, but various drawbacks, such as rapid recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs and severe particle agglomeration, make it difficult to use. In this study, a co-precipitation approach was used to create ZnFe2O4/HNT (ZF/HNTs) composites. XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, BET, and DRS were used to characterize the ZF/HNT composites. Furthermore, the effectiveness of removing crystal violet under simulated visible light irradiation was used to assess photocatalytic activity. The results showed that ZnFe2O4 with typical diameters of around 20nm was significantly distributed on halloysite nanotubes. Because of the synergistic impact of the improved agglomeration phenomena of ZnFe2O4 and the decreased recombination rate of photo-generated electrons and holes, all of the composites had superior photocatalytic performance than pure ZnFe2O4. The ZF/HNTs-11 composite exhibited the highest removal performance, removing 96.7% of the sample in less than 150min. In addition, the composite was very stable and reusable. Consequently, ZF/HNTs-11 composite is an effective catalyst for treating pollutants found in wastewater.