Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Shape-dependent photocatalytic performance of SnFe2O4 nanocrystals synthesized by hydrothermal method

  • Brief Communication: Nano-structured materials (particles, fibers, colloids, composites, etc.)
  • Published:
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

SnFe2O4 nanocrystals (nanocubes and nanodisks) were synthesized without using any surfactant by hydrothermal method. The morphologies of SnFe2O4 nanocrystals were depended mainly on the concentration of NaOH solution in hydrothermal condition. Transient photoelectron chemical analysis showed that the photoelectric performance of SnFe2O4 nanocubes (1.3 μA/cm2) was better than that of SnFe2O4 nanodisks (0.8 μA/cm2). The photocatalytic activity of SnFe2O4 nanocrystals was measured by degradation of Congo red solution under visible light irradiation. As a result, SnFe2O4 nanocubes showed a superior photocatalytic degradation of Congo red with the degradation rate of 92% in 120 min. The SnFe2O4 nanocubes can be recovered easily be a magnet and reused for 5 times with remained degradation efficiency about 85%. A possible photocatalytic mechanism has also been proposed. The SnFe2O4 nanocubes have good potential in water treatment applications.

Highlights

  • SnFe2O4 nanocubes and nanodisks were synthesized without using any surfactant under hydrothermal condition;

  • The concentration of NaOH solution played a critical role in morphology of SnFe2O4 nanocrystals;

  • The SnFe2O4 nanocubes showed the higher photoelectrochemical performance than SnFe2O4 nanodisks;

  • The SnFe2O4 nanocubes exhibited superior photocatalytic oxidation performance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

References

  1. Jia Y, Kim D-H, Lee T, Kang S, Lee BW, Rhee SJ, Liu C (2016) One-pot solvothermal synthesis of magnetic SnFe2O4 nanoparticles and their performance in the photocatalytic degradation of chlortetracycline with visible light radiation. RSC Adv 6:76542–76550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Lee KT, Liu DM, Lu SY (2016) SnFe2O4 Nanocrystals as highly efficient catalysts for hydrogen-peroxide sensing. Chemistry 22:10877–10883

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Mounkachi O, Hamedoun M, Benyoussef A (2017) Electronic and magnetic properties of SnFe2O4 spinel ferrites. J Supercond Nov Magn 30:3035–3038

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Zhou FC, Sun YH, Liu S, Nan JM (2016) Synthesis of SnFe2O4 as a novel anode material for lithium-ion batteries. Solid State Ion 296:163–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Pei LZ, Lin N, Wei T, Liu HD, Yu HY (2015) Zinc vanadate nanorods and their visible light photocatalytic activity. J Alloy Compd 631:90–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Pei LZ, Wei T, Lin N, Fan CG, Yang Z (2016a) Aluminium bismuthate nanorods and the electrochemical performance for detection of tartaric acid. J Alloy Compd 679:39–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Pei LZ, Wei T, Lin N, Zhang H (2016b) Synthesis of bismuth nickelate nanorods and electrochemical detection of tartaric acid using nanorods modified electrode. J Alloy Compd 663:677–685

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhang E, Wu J, Wang G, Zhang B, Xie Y (2016) Efficient fenton oxidation of Congo red dye by magnetic MgFe2O4 nanorods. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 16:4727–4732

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Lee KT, Lu SY (2015) A cost-effective, stable, magnetically recyclable photocatalyst of ultra-high organic pollutant degradation efficiency: SnFe2O4 nanocrystals from a carrier solvent assisted interfacial reaction process. J Mater Chem A 3:12259–12267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Panek Z, Fitzner K (1984) Gibbs free energy of formation of solid SnFe2O4. Thermochim Acta 78:261–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Nakayama N, Kosuge K, Kachi S, Shinjo T, Takada T (1978) Magnetic properties of FeSn(OH)6 and its oxidation product, FeSnO(OH)5 Mat. Res Bull 13:17–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Jia Y et al. (2017b) Magnetically separable sulfur-doped SnFe2O4/graphene nanohybrids for effective photocatalytic purification of wastewater under visible light. J Hazard Mater 338:447–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Lamouri R, Tadout M, Hamedoun M, Benyoussef A, Ez-zahraouy H, Benaissa M, Mounkachi O (2017) Effect of the cations distribution on the magnetic properties of SnFe2O4: First-principles study. J Magn Magn Mater 436:6–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Paramasivan P, Venkatesh P (2016) Controllable synthesis of CuFe2O4 nanostructures through simple hydrothermal method in the presence of thioglycolic acid Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures 84:258–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Shetty K, Renuka L, Nagaswarupa HP, Nagabhushana H, Anantharaju KS (2017) A comparative study on CuFe2O4, ZnFe2O4 and NiFe2O4: Morphology, Impedance and Photocatalytic studies Materials Today Proceedings 4:11806–11815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Chen P, Xing X, Xie H, Sheng Q, Qu H (2016) High catalytic activity of magnetic CuFe2O4 /graphene oxide composite for the degradation of organic dyes under visible light irradiation. Chem Phys Lett 660:176–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Iacute et al. (2016) Study of copper ferrite as a novel photocathode for water reduction: improving its photoactivity by electrochemical pretreatment. ChemSusChem 9:1504–1512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Wang Y, Zhao H, Li M, Fan J, Zhao G (2014) Magnetic ordered mesoporous copper ferrite as a heterogeneous Fenton catalyst for the degradation of imidacloprid Applied catalysis B. Environmental 147:534–545

    Google Scholar 

  19. Jia P, Tan H, Liu K, Gao W (2017a) Enhanced photocatalytic performance of ZnO/bone char composites. Mater Lett 205:233–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Zhang EL, Wang LJ, Zhang BG, Sun CB, Zhang Y, Wang GS (2018) Effect of fenton oxidation performance and kinetics with different morphologies of a-Fe2O3 nanocrystals J Nanosci Nanotechnol 18:2637–2642

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical Engineering, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang, 110142, People’s Republic of China

    Enlei Zhang, Lijie Wang, Bengui Zhang, Yingpeng Xie & Guosheng Wang

Authors
  1. Enlei Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lijie Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bengui Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yingpeng Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Guosheng Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Enlei Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, E., Wang, L., Zhang, B. et al. Shape-dependent photocatalytic performance of SnFe2O4 nanocrystals synthesized by hydrothermal method. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 89, 355–360 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4868-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4868-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation