Surfactant Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis of Superparamagnetic ZnFe2O4 Nanoparticles as an Efficient Visible-Light Photocatalyst for the Degradation of Organic Pollutant

Super paramagnetic ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles were prepared by a surfactant assisted (ethylamine) hydrothermal method along with heat treatment. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, high resolution scanning electron microscopy, Transmission electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and diffuse reflectance spectra technique. From the analyses, influence of calcination temperature on the structural, vibrational, morphological, magnetic and optical properties of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles were investigated. The ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles with an average particle size of 17 nm showed high photocatalytic activity in the degradation of methylene blue (90 %). This work demonstrates that ZnFe(2)O4 can be used as a potential monocomponent in visible-light photocatalysis for the degradation of organic pollutants. Furthermore, the products were super paramagnetic and could be conveniently separated within 15 min and recycled by using simple magnet, which is very beneficial for the degradation of organic pollutants.