Structure and optical, magnetic and photocatalytic properties of Cr3+ substituted zinc nano-ferrites

Abstract

In this paper, the Cr3+ substituted zinc ferrite (ZnCrxFe2-xO4 with x = 0, 0.15 and 0.25) nanoparticles with single cubic spinel structure (Fd-3 m space group) were prepared by chemical co-precipitation method, and their structure and optical, magnetic and photocatalytic performaces were investigated. With Cr added, the lattice parameter and average grain size of the ferrites remarkably changed. High-quality nanostructured ferrite with an average particle size of 22–31 nm are revealed by TEM and SEM. The vibrational stretching modes of tetrahedral and octahedral sites were confirmed by FTIR. The optical studies proved a gradual decrease in the optical band gap which indicated the emergence of sub-band-gap energy levels by the chromium content. The magnetic properties were investigated through magnetization technique. The saturation magnetization measured from M-H hysteresis plot show decreasing trend with increase in Cr3+ content. The photocatalytic degradation of aqueous solution of Methyl Orange (MO) in the presence of prepared nano-ferrite under visible-light irradiation has been studied and discussed. The photodegradation efficiency of MO over ZnCrxFe2-xO4 photocatalysts is enhanced; (69%, 74% and 82% with increasing Cr3+content, respectively) compared with its modest value 12% without addition.