Enhancement of photocatalytic potential and recoverability of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles by decorating over monoclinic zirco
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Enhancement of photocatalytic potential and recoverability of Fe3O4 nanoparticles by decorating over monoclinic zirconia Idrees Khan 1 & Noor Zada 2 & Ibrahim Khan 3 & Muhammad Sadiq 2 & Khalid Saeed 1 Received: 5 February 2020 / Accepted: 4 October 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Background Photodegradation of organic pollutants is considered to be the most suitable and cheaper technique to counter the decontamination issues. Metal nanoparticles are considered to be the most effective heterogeneous photocatalysts for photodegradation of organic pollutants. Besides, iron oxide nanoparticles are well-known photocatalysts for degrading organic pollutants. Methods We reported the synthesis of neat iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) and zirconia supported iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4/ZrO2 NPs) by facile chemical reduction technique for photodegradation ofa toxic azo dye namely methyl red. Results The XRD and FTIR analysis has demonstrated a crystalline phase Fe3O4 NPs. The morphological features via scanning electronic microscopy (FESEM) suggested agglomerated morphology of neat Fe3O4 NPs with 803.54 ± 5.11 nm average particle size and revealed the uniform morphology and homogenous dispersion of Fe3O4 NPs over ZrO2 surface in Fe3O4/ZrO2 nanocomposite. A polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.47 showed sufficient variations in the particle size of neat Fe3O4 NPs, which is also supported by the results obtained from atomic force microscopy (AFM), FESEM and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Fe3O4/ZrO2 NPs demonstrated efficient methyl red degradation over a short period of time under simulated light and degraded about ~ 91.0 ± 1.0% and 87.0 ± 1.0% dye in 40 min, under UV and visible light, respectively. Conclusion The excellent photodegradation efficacy and sustainability of Fe3O4/ZrO2 NPs can be attributed to the homogenous distribution of Fe3O4 NPs over ZrO2, which facilitates the generation of photoexcitons (electrons and holes), enhanced charge transfer and minimize the charge recombination. Keywords Zirconia . Fe3O4 . Nanoparticles . Methyl red . Photodegradation
Introduction Azo dyes are the most common and largest class of synthetic dyes, which are aromatic in nature and widely used in textile, paper, cosmetics, food, and pharmaceutical industries [1–3]. The use of azo dye in the textile industry for coloring cellulosic fibers such as wool and cotton has increased significantly in the last decades due to their color brightness,
* Khalid Saeed [email protected] 1
Department of Chemistry, Bacha Khan University, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
2
Department of Chemistry, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
3
Centre of Integrative Petroleum Research, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
cost-effectiveness, and good resistance to light exposure and washing [4]. Many azo dyes are toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic and cause allergic reactions [5, 6]. Among the azo dyes, methyl red is a monoazo textil
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