Wet chemical route synthesis of Cr doped CoFe2O4 @rGO nanocomposite for photodegradation of organic effluents present in drinking water

Abstract

The current work comprises of the fabrication of spinel cobalt ferrite (CF1), and chromium doped cobalt ferrite (CF2) by wet chemical method (co-precipitation). Moreover, the nanocomposite of Cr-doped cobalt ferrite with reduced graphene oxide (CF3) was fabricated by an ultra-sonication method. The structural, functional, morphological, and optical or photocatalytic properties of prepared photocatalysts i.e. CF1, CF2, CF3 were determined by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and UV–Visible spectroscopy techniques respectively. The present work deals with the removal of an organic dye (Rhodamine B), and a colorless compound (Benzoic acid) from waste water using photocatalysts CF1, CF2, and CF3. Using CF3 (Cr-CoFe2O4@rGO) as photocatalytic material, 81% degradation of rhodamine B, and 67% of benzoic acid was observed. CF3 exhibited remarkable photocatalytic degradation activity than CF1 (43%) and CF2 (53%) against rhodamine B. Moreover, CF3 also showed outstanding degradation efficiency (67%) against benzoic acid than pure cobalt ferrite i.e. CF1 (46%). The outstanding removal efficacy of CF3 nanocomposite was due to the 2D structure, high/massive surface area and increased capacity to transport electrons of reduced graphene oxide (rGO).