Facile synthesis, morphological, structural, photocatalytic and optical properties of CoFe2O4 nanostructures

Abstract

CoFe 2 O 4 nanostructures were prepared by a facile co-precipitation route using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) as capping agents. The effects of PVA and SDS concentration on the structural, optical behaviour and photocatalytic response of the prepared CoFe 2 O 4 nanostructures were studied. XRD studies showed cubic spinel structure of CoFe 2 O 4 nanostructures. The crystallite size of CoFe 2 O 4 nanostructures was found to vary from 13 to 19.2 nm with change in PVA and SDS concentration, while the optical band gap varied from 2.2 to 2.31 eV. CoFe 2 O 4 nanostructures prepared using optimal SDS concentration exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance and efficiently degraded methylene blue in only 20 min of solar illumination. In situ scavenger studies confirmed the photoexcited electrons to be the major active species responsible for the strong photocatalytic performance of CoFe 2 O 4 nanostructures. The observed strong photocatalytic response of nanostructured CoFe 2 O 4 photocatalysts and their simpler magnetic separation capability make them promising for photocatalytic water purification applications.

CoZnFeO4 prepared by waste ferrous sulfate as iron source: synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

“…These results indicated that HO• and hole (h + ) are the main active substances in the process of CoZnFeO4 decolorization of MB. In the presence of electron-trapping CN, reactive oxygen species( -2 O , HO•) cannot be generated because conductive electrons (e -) cannot be reduced to oxygen [60]. Therefore, the decolorization of dyes is not significantly inhibited under visible light irradiation, that is, eplay a secondary role in this process [61,62].…”

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of silver vanadate nanobelts in concentrated sunlight delivered through optical fiber bundle coupled with solar concentrator

“…Most of the researchers use Xenon arc lamp or fluorescent lamp or LED lamp or solar simulator as visible light source to study photocatalytic activity [23-25, 34, 35]. Recently, some of them studied photocatalysis process in direct sunlight irradiation [26,27,36]. This is the first time in literature we are using a novel technology to use concentrated sunlight as visible light source to study photocatalytic activity.…”