Nanocrystalline zinc ferrite photocatalysts formed using the colloid mill and hydrothermal technique

作者：Fan Guoli; Gu Zhijun; Yang Lan; Li Feng^*

来源：Chemical Engineering Journal, 2009, 155(1-2): 534-541.

DOI：10.1016/j.cej.2009.08.008

• Zinc ferrite
• Nanostructure
• Catalysis Photo-degradation
• Colloid mill
• Synthesis

Nanocrystalline zinc ferrite (ZnFe(2)O(4)) photocatalysts with different crystallite sizes prepared using the colloid mill and hydrothermal technique are reported. This synthetic approach involves a very rapid mixing of Fe(3 ) cations with reducing agent and reduction process in a colloid mill reactor, followed by a slow oxidation of iron nuclei and structural transformation in a separate hydrothermal process. Material characterization has been presented by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical element analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra. The results indicate that ZnFe(2)O(4) nanocrystals with the uniform crystallite sizes have been obtained using in situ forming iron nuclei as the source of Fe. A possible formation mechanism of ZnFe(2)O(4) nanocrystals was proposed. Furthermore, through photocatalytic investigation, these ZnFe(2)O(4) nanocrystals displayed better abilities to photodecompose acid orange II azodye molecule under UV irradiation due to quantum confinement effect and high surface area structure, as compared to bulk ZnFe(2)O(4) sample prepared by the conventional solid-state method. Since as-synthesized ZnFe(2)O(4) nanocrystals have excellent chemical and thermal stabilities and exhibit good photocatalytic activities, it can be expected that they may have potential application in the field of industrial photo-degradation of organic azodye pollutants.

• 出版日期2009-12-1
• 单位北京化工大学