Preparation and application of Ag-CuFe2O4 semiconductors rich in oxygen vacancies

Ag metal particles were introduced into spinel CuFe2O4, while propanetriol solution was used to increase the oxygen vacancies (OVs) concentration of the material. 1% Ag-CuFe2O4, 3% Ag-CuFe2O4, and 1% Ag-CuFe2O4OVs were prepared by gel-sol method. These materials were characterized and tested, and the results showed that Ag particles were successfully introduced into CuFe2O4, and the oxygen vacancy concentration was significantly enhanced. Among them, 3% Ag-CuFe2O4 and 1% Ag-CuFe2O4-OVs achieved the best results in all aspects of the performance tests. The degradation rates of 91.81% and 99.31% were achieved after 180 min in 30 mg/L indole solution at pH 7.0 using 30 mg of catalyst. The effects of catalyst dosage and initial concentration of the solution on the catalytic effect were investigated by selecting a 1% Ag-CuFe2O4-OVs catalyst. Among them, the highest degradation efficiency was achieved at a catalyst dosage of 40 mg, but the degradation efficiency gradually weakened with the increase in catalyst dosage. The catalytic effect decreased to 89.13% after 5 cycles of experiments using a 30 mg catalyst, which proved that the catalyst had good reusability.

Automated summary

In this study, Ag metal particles were introduced into CuFe2O4 and the oxygen vacancy concentration was increased. Different catalysts were prepared and tested, and it was found that 3% Ag-CuFe2O4 and 1% Ag-CuFe2O4-OVs showed the best performance. The effect of catalyst dosage and initial concentration of the solution on the catalytic efficiency was also investigated. The study concluded that the catalyst had good reusability.