Microwave-Assisted Green Synthesis of Binary/Ternary Zn<i>_x</i>Co_1−<i>x</i>Fe₂O₄ (<i>x</i> = 0, 0.5, 1) Nanoparticles

Abstract

In this study, magnetic binary/ternary ZnxCo1−xFe2O4 (x = 0, 0.5, 1) nanoparticles were synthesized using a straightforward one-step microwave technique. To produce the ZnxCo1−xFe2O4 nanoparticles, iron (III) nitrate nonahydrate, zinc nitrate hexahydrate, and cobalt nitrate hexahydrate were used as metal sources, with urea used as the fuel and ammonium nitrate as the oxidizer. These materials were combined in an alumina crucible covered by a CuO jacket to absorb microwave energy and facilitate calcination. The thermal treatment involved placing the alumina crucible in a domestic microwave oven at 450 W for 30 min. The key strengths of this experimental strategy include its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and rapidity, aligning with green chemistry principles. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. XRD analysis confirmed the presence of the pure ferrite nanocrystalline phase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), employed with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), was used to study the surface morphology and analyze the elemental composition. The SEM analysis revealed that the synthesized magnetic nanoparticles had particle sizes ranging from 30 to 50 nm. Furthermore, we explored the potential use of these magnetic nanoparticles as photocatalysts for degrading organic pollutants such as methylene blue in aqueous solutions.

Keywords

• microwave synthesis
• magnetic nanoparticles
• photocatalyst
• organic pollutants