Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Iron(II) Doped Copper Ferrites (Cu<sup>II</sup><sub>(x)</sub>Fe<sup>II</sup><sub>(1-x)</sub>Fe<sup>III</sup><sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>) as Novel Heterogeneous Photo-Fenton Catalysts

The heterogeneous photo-Fenton type system has huge fame in the field of wastewater treatment due to its reusability and appreciable photoactivity within a wide pH range. This research investigates the synthesis and characterization of iron(II) doped copper ferrite (Cu<sup>II</sup><su...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Asfandyar Khan, Zsolt Valicsek, Ottó Horváth
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
Series:Nanomaterials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/5/921
Description
Summary:The heterogeneous photo-Fenton type system has huge fame in the field of wastewater treatment due to its reusability and appreciable photoactivity within a wide pH range. This research investigates the synthesis and characterization of iron(II) doped copper ferrite (Cu<sup>II</sup><sub>(x)</sub>Fe<sup>II</sup><sub>(1-x)</sub>Fe<sup>III</sup><sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles (NPs) and their photocatalytic applications for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) as a model dye. The NPs were prepared via simple co-precipitation technique and calcination. The NPs were characterized by using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). SEM reveals the structural change from the spherical-like particles into needle-like fine particles as the consequence of the increasing ratio of copper(II) in the ferrites, accompanied by the decrease of the optical band-gap energies from 2.02 to 1.25 eV. The three major determinants of heterogeneous photo-Fenton system, namely NPs concentration, hydrogen peroxide concentration and pH, on the photocatalytic degradation of MB were studied. The reusability of NPs was found to be continuously increasing during 4 cycles. It was concluded that iron(II) doped copper ferrites, due to their favorable band-gap energies and peculiar structures, exhibit a strong potential for photocatalytic-degradation of dyes, for example, MB.
ISSN:2079-4991