Template-assisted route to porous zinc ferrite film with enhanced visible-light induced photocatalytic performance

Zinc ferrite (ZnFe2O4) film with surface porous microstructure was fabricated successfully on sulfonated silicon substrate via a novel template-assisted route. The preparation approach involves the formation of two-phase composite (zinc ferrite and zinc oxide) film by thermal conversion of single-source Zn-Fe layered double hydroxide precursor film, which is followed by a selective leaching of self-generated ZnO template. Furthermore, as-fabricated ZnFe2O4 film exhibited greatly enhanced photocatalytic activity in the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation, compared with ZnFe2O4 powder prepared by the conventional solid-state method. It is expected that such kind of ZnFe2O4-based film materials may have potential applications in the field of industrial photo-degradation of organic pollutants. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.