Photocatalytic degradation of coomassie blue G-250 by magnetic NiFe$_{{2}}$O$_{{4}}$/ZnO nanocomposite

Abstract

Photocatalysts NiFe2O4, ZnO, and NiFe2O4/ZnO were successfully synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques. The prepared photocatalysts demonstrated significant photocatalytic efficiency under visible and UV light. The rate of dye degradation of NiFe2O4/ZnO in both UV and visible ranges exceeded that of ZnO and NiFe2O4. Moreover, NiFe2O4/ZnO exhibited the most excellent photocatalytic efficiency toward Coomassie blue G-250. The effect of pH on the dye degradation rate was also monitored. Accordingly, 96.90% and 68.55% dye degradation efficiencies were achieved by NiFe2O4/ZnO in 30 min under UV and visible light, respectively.

Keywords

• NiFe$_{{2}}$O$_{{4}}$/ZnO nanocomposites
• Photocatalyst
• pH value
• Visible light
• UV light
• Coomassie blue G-250