Hydrothermal synthesis, characterization and photodegradation of organic pollutants of CoCr2O4/Ag nanostructure and thermal stability of epoxy acrylate nanocomposite

- CoCr2O4 nanostructures were prepared by hydrothermal method by various alkaline and capping agents.
- The best morphology for CoCr2O4 nanostructures were obtained by using alkaline and capping agent.
- Ag particles were deposited by photodeposition route on the surface of CoCr2O4 nanoparticles.
- The photocatalytic activity of CoCr2O4 and CoCr2O4/Ag nanostructures were tested.

Present work describes a facile method to prepare CoCr2O4 nanostructured using of Co(acac)2·4H2O and CrCl3·6H2O as cobalt and chrome sources respectively. 2-Hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde-1,4-diaminobutane and CTAB was applied as stabilization agents. N(Et)3, NaOH and tetraethylenepantamine (TEPA) were used as alkaline agent. TEPA and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde-1,4-diaminobutane were chosen as the best alkaline agent and stabilization agent respectively. Silver nanoparticles were doped to the product by using photodeposition approach. The structural, optical, and morphological characteristics of as-synthesized CoCr2O4 and CoCr2O4/Ag nanostructures were analyzed using EDS, SEM, VSM, XRD, FT-IR and DRS spectroscopy. The photocatalytic behavior of CoCr2O4 nanoparticles was evaluated using the degradation of various organic pollutants (Rhodamine B, methylene blue and methyl orange) under UV irradiation. Also the effect of reaction parameters such as pH, on the grain size and shape of the nanoparticles were investigated. The influence of the CoCr2O4/Ag NPs on the thermal properties of epoxy acrylate was investigated by using thermogravimetry analysis. Results indicate that, CoCr2O4/Ag nanoparticles can enhance the thermal stability of the epoxy acrylate matrix.

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