A Novel One-Pot Combustion Synthesis and Opto-magnetic Properties of Magnetically Separable Spinel MnxMg1-xFe2O4(0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) Nanophotocatalysts

Magnetically separable spinel Mn (x) Mg1-xFe2O4 (0.0 a parts per thousand currency sign x a parts per thousand currency sign 0.5) nano-photocatalysts was synthesized by a facile microwave-assisted combustion method. The formation of single-phase cubic spinel structure was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses. The morphology of the samples consists of sphere-like nanoparticles (NPs) structure, which was confirmed by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analyses. The energy band gap of the samples was confirmed by UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) study and the band gap of pure MgFe2O4 sample is 2.02 eV, and it is increased with increasing the amount of Mn2+ dopant, due to the decrease of particle size. The magnetic measurements (VSM) showed ferromagnetic behavior for all compositions. The present study leads to enhance the photocatalytic activity of spinel Mn (x) Mg1-xFe2O4 NPs with the addition of TiO2 catalyst using the photo-decomposition of 4-chloro phenol (4-CP) under visible light. It was found that the combined nanocomposite (NCs) Mn (x) Mg1-xFe2O4-TiO(2)photocatalysts exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity than that of pure TiO2 or Mn (x) Mg1-xFe2O4. The enhanced photocatalytic ability of Mn (x) Mg1-xFe2O4-TiO2 NCs could be attributed to the interconnected heterojunction of spinel Mn (x) Mg1-xFe2O4 and TiO2 catalysts.