Photocatalytic activity of anatase–nickel ferrite heterostructures

Abstract

The simple co-precipitation route was used to couple commercial TiO 2 anatase nanopowder with nickel ferrite (NiFe 2 O 4 ). The morphology and the crystalline structure of composite nanoparticles were characterised by TEM, N 2 adsorption-desorption, XRD and Rietveld refinement, XPS and XAS. The optical and magnetic properties were investigated. After co-precipitation NiFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles, composed of spinel ferrite crystal phase, were formed on the surface of TiO 2 anatase nanopowder.

Enhanced photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic behaviors of MFe2O4 (M = Ni, Co, Zn and Sr) modified TiO2 nanorod arrays

“…Furthermore, the following researches proposed similar theory to explain the role of ZnFe 2 O 4 in enhancing photoactivity of TiO 2 1819, that is, the adoption of ZnFe 2 O 4 makes the ZnFe 2 O 4 /TiO 2 composite could use visible light, and the good match of band edges between ZnFe 2 O 4 and TiO 2 is in favor of charge carriers separating effectively. Reports about other MFe 2 O 4 modified TiO 2 , such as NiFe 2 O 4 /TiO 2 , Mn 0.5 Zn 0.5 Fe 2 O 4 /TiO 2 , MgFe 2 O 4 /TiO 2 and CuFe 2 O 4 /TiO 2 all show higher photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performance20212223. It seems that MFe 2 O 4 is such a promising material to improve the photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performance of TiO 2 .…”

Ag sensitized TiO2 and NiFe2O4 three-component nanoheterostructures: synthesis, electronic structure and strongly enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

“…The TiO 2 /NiFe 2 O 4 theoretical weight ratio 75/25 was found to be optimal in our previous study. 21 The alternatively ordered (TiO 2 /NiFe 2 O 4 )/Ag (TNA) ternary sample was obtained by subjecting a portion of the previously obtained binary TN sample to the Ag photodeposition sequence. Finally, all the samples were annealed at 150 C for 3 h.…”

“…In the present study, we investigate how coupling anatase TiO 2 to nickel ferrite (NiFe 2 O 4 ) and/or to Ag will improve the overall visible light photocatalytic efficiency. Given the (plasmonic) broad spectrum visible absorption of silver nanoparticles and the relatively narrow band gap of NiFe 2 O 4 , as well as the band alignment at the interfaces of the heterostructures, 8,20,21 such composition was anticipated to be a good candidate for improved visible light photocatalytic performance. NiFe 2 O 4 has a 1.56 eV indirect band gap, 22,23 and its conduction band minimum (CBM) potential (À1.62 VSCE on the electrochemical scale at pH ¼ 7) 24 is more negative than that of TiO 2 (À0.5 VSCE) 1,25 (the corresponding CBM positions relative to the Fermi edge in these materials are 0.2 eV (ref.…”

Alkaline steaming-assisted conversion: a new strategy for the synthesis of pure NiFe2O4 and CoFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles

“…8–11 Among these magnetic materials spinel ferrites, such as NiFe 2 O 4 , have excellent properties like low eddy-current loss, a narrow band gap, high electrical resistance and high permeability at high frequencies. 12–14 These properties can be adjusted via the synthesis method and the concentrations of dopants. 15–17 Therefore, ferrites have long been at the pivotal point of focus of materials scientists.…”