Synthesis of ZnFe2O4 Nanoparticle by Combustion and Sol Gel Methods and their Structural, Photoluminescence and Photocatalytic Performance

Abstract

Solution combustion and sol gel methods were employed to synthesize ZnFe2O4 (ZFO) nanoparticles (NPs).The resulting NPs were characterized by Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and further subjected to photoluminescence (PL) and photocatalytic studies. It was obvious that PXRD showed similar patterns of cubic spinel structure even though different methods were employed. SEM micrographs of ZFO NPs synthesized by sol-gel method shows the crystallites with irregular shaped thin flakes while in case of combustion synthesis, the NPs were agglomerated with several voids and pores. ZFO prepared by sol gel method shows superior degradation of 97% when compared to combustion method which has undergone only 64% of degradation under UV light using Methylene Blue (MB) as a model pollutant. This study demonstrated that the sol gel synthesized NPs were found to be superior in comparison with that of combustion method for water treatment.