Enhanced catalytic activity and magnetic properties of spinel MnxZn1-xFe2O4(0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) nano-photocatalysts by microwave irradiation route

• Main Authors: Padmapriya, G., Manikandan, A., Krishnasamy, V., Jaganathan, S. K., Antony, S. A.
• Format: Article
• Published: Springer New York LLC 2016
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/72285/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84964613995&doi=10.1007%2fs10948-016-3527-x&partnerID=40&md5=3700afbf7a6c20f103c08b580388352d

Spinel MnxZn1−xFe2O4 (0.0 ≤x≤ 1.0) nanocatalysts were successfully prepared by simple one-pot microwave combustion method using glycine as the fuel. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectral results confirmed the formation of pure-phase cubic spinel structured products. Average crystallite sizes of the samples were calculated using Sherrer’s formula, and the range from 21.15 to 15.48 nm. Spherical-shaped particles like nanostructured morphology were confirmed by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analyses. Magnetic characterization of the samples was measured by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and it was observed that the magnetization values increased with increasing Mn 2+ cation, due to the replacement of the non-magnetic nature of Zn 2+ by the higher magnetic moment of Mn 2+ in the ZnFe2O4 lattice and also the distribution of cations at tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) sites. Photocatalytic degradation (PCD) of methylene blue (MB) using spinel MnxZn1−xFe2O4 (0.0 ≤x≤ 1.0) nanocatalysts was carried out, and the PCD efficiency is increased with increasing Mn 2+ ions, and the sample Mn0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4 showed better efficiency than other samples, due to their smaller particle size and higher surface area.