Investigation the photocatalytic activity of CoFe2O4/ZnO and CoFe2O4/ZnO/Ag nanocomposites for purification of dye pollutants

Magnetically separable CoFe2O4/ZnO and CoFe2O4/ZnO/Ag nanocomposites were successfully synthesized using CoFe2O4 nanoparticle as core by a simple precipitate route. The structural, morphology and functionality of prepared samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and vibration sample magnetometer. The micro-structural study approved that the synthesized nanoparticles have spherical morphologies with average particle size between 30 and 47 nm. The influence of nanocomposites on the acid violet and acid brown degradation was investigated under ultraviolet light. The CoFe2O4/ZnO nanocomposite showed enhanced photocatalytic activity, achieving acid violet and acid brown degradation efficiency of 76% and 63% respectively, rather than other samples. The increase in photocatalytic activity of CoFe2O4/ZnO hybrid may be associated with the formation of a suitable internal structure between CoFe2O4 and ZnO. Magnetic measurement indicated that CoFe2O4/ZnO is ferromagnetic with the magnetization saturation value of 25 emu/g, which is suitable for magnetic recovery by using an external magnetic field.