Facile synthesis, morphological, structural, photocatalytic and optical properties of ZnFe2O4-ZnO hybrid nanostructures

Abstract

ZnFe2O4/ZnO heterojunction photocatalysts have been fabricated via simple co-precipitation method and systematically characterized. The structural and morphological analyses using XRD, Raman and FESEM confirmed the formation of ZnFe2O4/ZnO hybrid nanostructures. The optical properties were analysed via UV–vis DRS, PL and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. UV–vis DRS studies showed band gap variation from 1.91 to 2.07 eV. The visible light-driven photodegradation activity of the synthesized products was explored by decomposing toxic pollutants in water and the results showed that ZnFe2O4/ZnO hybrid nanostructures exhibit superior photodegradation performance over pristine ZnFe2O4 nanostructures. The improved photocatalytic performance of ZnFe2O4/ZnO nanostructures is ascribed to efficient sunlight utilization ability and suppression of recombination of photoinduced charge carriers due to p-n nanoheterojunction formation. In addition, photodegradation mechanism supported with scavenger experiments has been proposed. Besides the excellent photoactivity, ZnFe2O4/ZnO hybrid nanostructures are outstandingly stable, recyclable and thereby exhibit an enormous potential for large scale photocatalytic applications.