Synthesis of Zinc Ferrite and Its Photocatalytic Application under Visible Light

ZnFe2O4 with a spinel crystal structure was synthesized by using the solid-state reaction method. A single-phase ZnFe2O4 was obtained in the temperature range of 900 - 1200 degrees C. The as-synthesized particles were agglomerates of crystals with an average size of 51.9 nm, as estimated from X-ray diffraction analysis. The band gap of the n-type semiconducting metal oxide, as determined by using UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS) was found to be 1.90 eV (657 nm). The photocatalytic activity of ZnFe204 was investigated by using the photo-decomposition of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) under visible light (>= 420 nm) and was found to be much higher than that of the well-known TiO2-xNx photocatalyst.