Magnetic core–shell carbon microspheres (CMSs)@ZnFe2O4/Ag3PO4 composite with enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability under visible light irradiation

Fabrication of magnetic and recyclable In2S3/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites for visible light photocatalytic activity enhancement

“…Photoluminescence (PL) emission spectrum is commonly used to detect the recombination of excited charge carriers on a semiconductor. It is known that a weaker PL signal presents a higher separation probability of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, meaning the lower recombination rate of the charge carriers, so as to cause the higher photocatalytic efficiency [26,28]. Figure 5 presented the PL spectra of pure ZnFe 2 O 4 , pure In 2 S 3 and In 2 S 3 /ZnFe 2 O 4 nanocomposites, which were measured with an excitation wavelength of 325 nm at room temperature.…”

“…Under the effect of inner electric field, due to both the CB and VB potential of In 2 S 3 is more negetive than that of ZnFe 2 O 4 , the photoinduced e − on the CB of In 2 S 3 would shift to the CB of ZnFe 2 O 4 , while the photogenerated h + on the VB of ZnFe 2 O 4 would shift to the VB of In 2 S 3 , and thus gives rise to the effective separation of photoinduced e − and h + . As a result, the electrons accumulated on the CB of ZnFe 2 O 4 could reduce O 2 molecules adsorbed on the surface of photocatalyst to produce ·O 2 − active free radicals, which is attributed to that the CB potential of ZnFe 2 O 4 (−0.40 eV versus NHE) is lower than the standard redox potential of O 2 /·O 2 − (+0.13 eV versus NHE) [28]. Further, some ·O 2 − could react with H2O molecules to form ·OH group.…”

“…As reported, In 2 S 3 and ZnFe 2 O 4 have matched energy band structure, further speculating the combination of In 2 S 3 and ZnFe 2 O 4 could expand the spectral responsive range and improve the photocatalytic activity of each individual respectively. Specifically, the valence band (VB) of In 2 S 3 is positioned between the VB and conduction band (CB) of ZnFe 2 O 4 and the CB of In 2 S 3 is positioned above the VB and CB of ZnFe 2 O 4 [11,28]. Accordingly, integrating In 2 S 3 with ZnFe 2 O 4 could be beneficial to the separation of photogenerated charge carriers owing to proper band structure, which shows great potential to be developed into a highly efficient photocatalytic system.…”

Preparation and antibacterial activity of solvothermal synthesized ZnFe2O4/Ag-TiO2 nanocomposite

“…The saturation magnetization values of ZnFe2O4 MNPs is 12 emu/g. ZnFe2O4 MNPs are also superparamagnetic, as its magnetic hysteresis loop passed through the origin of the coordinate [19]. For TiO2 and Ag-TiO2, the saturation magnetization values of 1.1 and 2.4 emu/g were obtained respectively.…”

“…98-009-1931). The diffraction peaks at 2θ =30.13°, 35.48°, 43.14°, 53.55°, 57.02°, and 62.67° were indexed to the (220), (311), (400), (422), (511) and (440) reflections of ZnFe2O4 with cubic spinel structure [19,21]. The XRD spectra of TiO2 indicated anatase phase formation (ICDS: 98-015-4601) due to (101) crystal plane [17].…”