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Z-scheme ZnFe2O4/CeO2 nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic performance under UV light

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Abstract

The motivation of this work is to identify structural, optical, magnetic properties of ZnFe2O4/CeO2 nanocomposites and their potential use in removal of water-polluting dye. The cost-effective hydrothermal technique was used to synthesize ZnFe2O4/CeO2 nanocomposites of different weight ratio (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4). XRD pattern of synthesized samples show two different phases corresponding to ZnFe2O4 and CeO2, respectively. FTIR spectra enlightened Zn–O, Fe–O, and O–Ce–O bonds in synthesized nanocomposites. Further UV–Vis spectroscopy demonstrated that band gap varies from 2.17 to 3.12 eV. This change may be attributed to creation of new sub-band gap energy levels upon addition of wide band gap semiconductor (CeO2). Magnetic investigations showed that pure ZnFe2O4 has greater magnetic character than other synthesized materials, with a maximum magnetization of 1.42 emu/g. HRTEM analysis showed spherical morphology of synthesized samples. In comparison to single metal oxides (ZnFe2O4 and CeO2), maximum photodegradation efficiency of ZnFe2O4/CeO2 (1:4) nanocomposites for Rose Bengal dye was observed to be 95% in 75 min. Furthermore, photocatalytic activity remains unchanged after four runs for this photocatalyst, allowing the reusability of catalysts. In nanocomposites, Ce4+/Ce3+ redox couple and heterojunction interfaces have encouraged electron transport and photo-excited electron–hole recombination which ultimately affects photodegradation efficiency of nanocomposites.

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Acknowledgements

AK and PK acknowledges Department of Science and Technology (DST) Delhi, for providing experimental support facilities under DST-FIST Research Grant (SR/FST/PS-1/2018/32) and PURSE grant (SR/PURSE/2022/126). Sonia acknowledges University Grant Commission, India for providing research fellowship (UGC Ref. No.: 191620168538 (CSIR-UGC NET JAN. 2020)).

Funding

Funding received from Human Resource Development Group DL0116214341.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, Haryana, 131039, India

    Sonia & Ashok Kumar

  2. Department of Physics, J. C. Bose University of Science and Technology, YMCA, Faridabad, Haryana, 121006, India

    Parmod Kumar

Authors
  1. Sonia
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  2. Ashok Kumar
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  3. Parmod Kumar
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Contributions

S: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing—original draft, visualization. AK: formal analysis, writing—review and editing. PK: resources, visualization, writing—review and editing, supervision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashok Kumar.

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The authors declare that there is no any conflict of interest on the work presented in the manuscript entitled “ZnFe2O4/CeO2 nanocomposites as an efficient photocatalyst for dye degradation”.

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Sonia, Kumar, A. & Kumar, P. Z-scheme ZnFe2O4/CeO2 nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic performance under UV light. Appl. Phys. A 129, 724 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-023-06959-6

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