Hydrothermal and sonochemical preparation and photocatalytic and bactericidal activities of ZnFe2O4-SnO2 nanocomposite

ZnFe2O4-SnO2 nanocomposite has been prepared by hydrothermal and sonochemical methods. Electron microscopic images reveal the composites as nanomaterials. X-ray diffractograms show cubic ZnFe2O4 and tetragonal SnO2 as the components of the composites. The energy dispersive X-ray spectra provide the composition of hydrothermally and sonochemically prepared composites as 71% (mol.) SnO2 and 29% (mol.) ZnFe2O4 and 14.4% (mol.) SnO2 and 85.6% (mol.) ZnFe2O4, respectively. Both the composites absorb visible light. The composites are ferromagnetic and the saturation magnetization of hydrothermally prepared nanocomposite is less than that of sonochemically obtained one. Visible light-photocatalytic activity of hydrothermally prepared nanocomposite is larger than that of the other. In addition, both the nanocomposites exhibit bactericidal activity. Hydrothermally prepared ZnFe2O4-SnO2 nanocomposite is a magnetically separable antibacterial visible light-photocatalyst and is a promising nanomaterial for environmental cleanup. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.