PREPARATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY FOR DEGRADATION OF METHYLEN BLUE OF SPINEL ZnxNi1-xFe2O4 (x=0-0,5) NANOPARTICLES

Abstract

ZnxNi1-xFe2O4 (x=0÷0.5) nanoparticles have been prepared by a solution combustion method using
glycine as fuel. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy
dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The XRD results showed that the single-phase Zn2+ substituted nickel ferrite
nanoparticles exhibit partially inverse spinel structure with the crystallite size of 17 –21 nm. The morphology
of spinel nanoparticles was observed from SEM images and the elemental mapping of Zn-substituted
NiFe2O4 was obtained by using energy dispersive X-ray technique. The maximum photocatalytic
degradation efficiency for Zn0.3Ni0.7Fe2O4 is around (85.2%) when compared to that of NiFe2O4
whose efficiency is around (59.82%). The improvement in photocatalytic degradation efficiency is due
to the effective separation and prevention of electron-hole pair recombination.