Eco-friendly green synthesis of novel magnetic Fe3O4/SiO2/ZnO-Pr6O11 nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant

This study reports the successful sonochemical synthesis of novel Fe3O4/SiO2/ZnO-Pr6O11(Fe/Si/Zn-Pr6O11) nanocomposites using fructose as a green capping agent. The influence of various parameters containing capping agent, power and time of ultrasound irradiation was investigated to reach optimum morphology and size conditions. The products obtained were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV/Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), vibration sample magnetometer (VSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Fe3O4/SiO2/ZnO-Pr6O11 nanocomposites display remarkably enhanced photocatalytic activity towards rhodamine b degradation (89.6%) and Congo red (84.7%) under UV irradiation compared with the other products. The results illustrate that the photocatalytic efficiency of magnetic nanocomposites is very much higher than pure Pr6O11 nanostructures. Magnetic photocatalyst still has good stability after five successive runs. So, these recyclable nanocomposites can play a role in the treatment of both industrial and domestic contaminated water. (C) 2019 Chinese Society of Rare Earths. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.