Synthesis of novel p-n heterojunction by the decoration of CuFe2O4 on ZnO nanorod: Characterization, enhanced visible light driven photocatalytic activity and intrinsic mechanism

Abstract

The fabrication of ZnO based photocatalyst has shown enhanced photocatalytic performance when coupled with ferrites. The wide bandgap of pristine-ZnO constrains its utility beyond UV range, thereby limiting its usage in the visible region. Therefore, p-n type ZnO/CuFe2O4 nanoclusters (NCs) were constructed by indulging ultrasonic assisted chemical co-precipitation method. The internal morphological studies reveal that spherical-like CuFe2O4 is decorated over rod-shaped ZnO. UV-visible DRS spectra showed deviation in band gap energy of CuFe2O4 (1.42 eV) and ZnO (3.4 eV) to 2.1 eV for ZnO/CuFe2O4 NCs-20. The apparent degradation rate-constant (kdeg) of 0.014 min−1 which was comparatively 2.8 and 1.75 folds greater than pure ZnO (0.005 min−1) and CuFe2O4 (0.008 min−1), respectively. The hydroxyl radicals (.OH) were generated productively by the coupled ZnO/CuFe2O4 NCs-20 to bring forth efficient methylene blue (MB) dye degradation when irradiated under visible-light source. The reusable efficiency of ZnO/CuFe2O4 NCs-20 was determined to be 93.14%. This ensures that ZnO/CuFe2O4 NCs-20 possess greater potential to behave as a photocatalyst for the abatement of toxicity in the aquatic environment.