Abstract
The structure, morphology and photocatalytic features of the Mn-Zn ferrite nanoparticles embedded in SiO2 matrix produced by a modified sol-gel synthesis were investigated. The synthesis consists of mixing the metal nitrates, 1,4-butanediol and tetraethylorthosilicate, formation of the SiO2 matrix by gelation, formation of the metallic succinate precursors by heating the gel up to 200 °C and formation of the ferrite system by thermal treatment at higher temperatures. The formation of Mn-, Zn- and Fe-succinate precursors up to 200 °C and their decomposition into ferrites up to 400 °C was confirmed both by thermal analysis and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction provided information on the crystalline phases, crystallite size and lattice constant, while the morphology of the samples was investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The crystallite size increased (30.5–53.4 nm), while the energy band gap of the samples decreased (2.09−1.33 eV) with the increase of the Mn content in the ferrite; thus, the amount of manganese nitrate used in the synthesis could be an easy tailoring approach of the mixed Mn-Zn ferrites. All samples showed sonophotocatalytic activity, being able to degrade Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation, Mn0.3Zn0.7Fe2O4@SiO2 sample having the best sonophotocatalytic performance.
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