Magnetic and structural characterization of Sn doped cobalt ferrites; A visible light-driven photocatalysts for degradation of rhodamine-B and modeling the process by artificial intelligence tools

Abstract

Tin (Sn) substituted cobalt ferrites Co1−xSnxFe2O4 with composition (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) were synthesized utilizing sol-gel auto combustion method. All synthesized powders were characterized for their structural, magnetic and optical characterization after calcination. The single phase spinel with good crystallisation and a decreasing crystallite size with Sn substitution is confirmed by the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. The magnetic measurements were carried out at room temperature where saturation magnetization values show sufficient magnetic nature of calcinated ferrites. The bandgap values for pure cobalt and Sn-substituted cobalt ferrites were closer to the experimental value. The visible light photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B was carried out in presence of Sn substituted cobalt ferrites that shows good catalytic activity up to 87% degradation for Co0.5Sn0.5Fe2O4 catalyst. Additionally, this study used Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Interface System (ANFIS) models to simulate degradation efficiency with inputs including time, pH, and catalyst dosage. The results revealed that the 3–2–2–1 structure ANN4 model outperformed the other ANN and ANFIS models in the testing phase (RMSE = 6.90% and NSE = 0.92). According to the findings of this study, artificial intelligence models are capable of precisely predicting Rhodamine B degradation.