Structural, Optical, Magnetic and Photocatalytic Properties of Zn Doped CoFe2O4 Decorated Bentonite Nanocomposites

The bentonite-Zn doped CoFe2O4 photocatalysts were successfully synthesized for the first time by decorating magnetic ZnxCo1-xFe2O4 nanoparticles onto the bentonite surface in order to enhance the photocatalytic performance of Zn doped CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. We tried to thoroughly investigate how changes in Zn2+ concentration affected the particle size, shape, magnetic properties, optical band gap, and photocatalytic activities of B-ZnxCo1-xFe2O4 nanocomposites. The photodegradation of crystal violet (CV), a model reaction under visible light irradiations, was used to assess the photocatalytic activities of the samples. Compared to other samples, the B-ZnxCo1-xFe2O4 (x=0.5) showed the highest photocatalytic activity, which is best matched to the pseudo-first-order kinetic. According to investigations using reactive species capture, the superoxide radicals have the main role in the degrading process, while the hydroxyl radicals and holes have a secondary and minimal effect, respectively.

Automated summary

For the first time, bentonite-Zn doped CoFe2O4 photocatalysts were synthesized by decorating magnetic nanoparticles of ZnxCo1-xFe2O4 onto the surface of bentonite to enhance their photocatalytic performance. The effects of Zn2+ concentration on the particle size, shape, magnetic properties, optical band gap, and photocatalytic activities of B-ZnxCo1-xFe2O4 nanocomposites were thoroughly investigated. The B-ZnxCo1-xFe2O4 (x=0.5) showed the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of crystal violet under visible light irradiation, with superoxide radicals playing a main role in the degradation process.