Synthesis, Characterization, and Photodegradation Activity of Fe₃O₄@ZnO Nanoflowers

Abstract

Technological advancement nowadays is detrimental to the environment. To deal with such a problem, waste decomposition should be carried out to produce a clean and healthy environment. In this study, the photodegradation method was used because it has advantages in efficiency and stability. The material used as a photodegradation catalyst was Fe3O4@ZnO nanoflowers. The synthesis of Fe3O4@ZnO nanoflowers was carried out using coprecipitation method for Fe3O4 and precipitation for composites. The variations in the mass of the catalyst used in this study were 50, 100, and 150 mg. The samples were characterized using an X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) to analyze the phase, size, and crystal structure, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to determine morphology, and a photodegradation test to measure the photodegradation activity. The grain sizes of Fe3O4 and ZnO nanoflowers based on the Scherrer equation were 12.12 nm and 32.29 nm, respectively. Based on SEM characterization, the morphology of Fe3O4@ZnO nanoflowers showed a flower-like structure with an average diameter of 3.2 µm. The best performance of phenol photodegradation activity is 54.3 % obtained in the first cycle of 150 mg Fe3O4@ZnO nanoflowers under solar irradiation.