A Study on Structural, Optical, and Magnetic Properties of ZnO/ZnFe2O4 Composite

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Physics department, Shahrood University of Technology

Abstract

In this research, ZnO/ ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites with a weight ratio (1:1) were made using hydrothermal method and annealing temperatures of 600°C and 700°C. Structural, optical, and magnetic properties of the synthesized powders were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results obtained from the XRD diffraction patterns confirmed the formation of the mixed phases, hexagonal zinc oxide and cubic spinel phases of pure zinc ferrite. FESEM images showed that with the increase of annealing temperature, the samples have a cohesive and agglomerated structure. The measurement of the absorption spectra of the synthesized samples showed that the absorption in the visible region increases with increase in annealing temperature. The optical band gap value for the ZnO/ZnFe2O4 composites were in the range of 2.1-2.2 eV which is between the band gap values of ZnO (3.37 eV) and zinc ferrite (1.8 eV). The hysteresis loops measured with VSM indicated a soft and weak ferromagnetic magnetic behavior for both samples. 

Keywords

Main Subjects

© 2023 The Author(s). Journal of Progress in Physics of Applied Materials published by Semnan University Press. This is an open access article under the CC-BY 4.0 license. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

References

[1] S.K. Noukelag, F. Cummings, C. J.Arendse, M. Maaza, "Physical and magnetic properties of biosynthesized ZnO/Fe2O3, ZnO/ZnFe2O4, and ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles." Results in Surfaces and Interfaces 10 (2023 )100092 .
[2] G. Tong, F. Du, W. Wu, R. Wu, F. Liu, Y. Liang, "Enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) yields and antibacterial activity of spongy ZnO/ZnFe2O4 hybrid micro-hexahedra selectively synthesized through a versatile glucose-engineered co-precipitation/annealing process." Journal of Materials Chemistry B 1(2013) 2647-2657 .
[3] B.Z. Hsu, C.L. Yu, S. Sakthinathan, T.W. Chiu, B.S. Yu, C.C. Lin, L. Fan, Y. Lee, "H.ZnO-ZnFe2O4 Catalyst for
Hydrogen Production from Methanol Steam Reforming." Catalysts 13(2023)762 .
[4] M. S. AlSalhi, S. Devanesan, N. Asemi, A. Ahamed, "Concurrent fabrication of ZnO–ZnFe2O4 hybrid nanocomposite for enhancing photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and its bacterial inactivation." Chemosphere 318 (2023) 137928 .
[5] W. Zhang, X. Chen, N. Xu, R. Xiang, Y. Zhu, Z. Tang, "Morphology and optical property of zno nanostructures grown by solvothermal method: effect of the solution pretreatment." Journal of Nanomaterials (2013) 5-5.
[6] L. Xue, E. Liang, J. Wang, "Fabrication of magnetic ZnO/ZnFe2O4/diatomite composites: improved photocatalytic efficiency under visible light irradiation." Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 33 (2022) 1405-1424 .
[7] P. Falak, S. A. Hassanzadeh-Tabrizi, A. Saffar-Teluri, "Synthesis, characterization, and magnetic properties of ZnO-ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles with high photocatalytic activity." Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 441(2017) 98-104 .
[8] L.T. Nguyen, D.V.N. Vo, L.T. Nguyen, A.T. Duong, H.Q. Nguyen, N.M. Chu, D.T.C Nguyen, T. Van Tran, "Synthesis, characterization ,and application of ZnFe2O4@ ZnO nanoparticles for photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B under visible-light illumination." Environmental Technology & Innovation 25 (2022) 102130.
[9] T. Pandiyarajan, B. Karthikeyan, "Optical properties of annealing induced post growth ZnO: ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites." Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 106 (2013) 247-252 .
[10] N.T.T. Nguyen, L.M. Nguyen, T.T.T. Nguyen, , N.H. Nguyen, D.H. Nguyen, D.T.C. Nguyen, T. Van Tran, "Green synthesis of ZnFe2O4@ ZnO nanocomposites using Chrysanthemum spp. floral waste for photocatalytic dye degradation." Journal of Environmental Management 326 (2023) 116746
[11] N. Masmali, Z. Osman, and A. K. Arof, "Comparison between silver sulfide and cadmium sulfide quantum dots in ZnO and ZnO/ZnFe2O4 photoanode of quantum dots sensitized solar cells." Ionics 28 (2020) 2007-2020 .
[12] M. Chakraborty, D. Roy, A. Sharma, R. Thangavel, "Post-treatment with ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles to improve photo-electrochemical performance of ZnO nanorods based photoelectrodes." Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 200(2019). 109975.
[13] M. Shekofteh-Gohari, A. Habibi-Yangjeh, M. Abitorabi, A. Rouhi, "Magnetically separable nanocomposites based on ZnO and their applications in photocatalytic processes: a review." Critical reviews in environmental science and technology 48 (2018) 806-857.
[14.] O. Al Haiqi, A.H. Nour, B.V. Ayodele, R. Bargaa "Interaction Effect of Process Variables on Solar-Assisted Photocatalytic Phenol Degradation in Oilfield Produced Water Over ZnO/Fe2O3 Nanocomposites." Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences 78 (2021) 100-121. [15] J. Tauc, R. Grigorovici, A. Vancu, physica status solidi 15 (1966) 627–637.
[16] A.A.A. Ahmed, Z.A. Talib, M.Z. Hussein, M.H. Flaifel, N.M. Al-Hada, "Infuence of Zn/Fe molar ratio on optical and magnetic properties of ZnO and ZnFe2O4 nanocrystal as calcined products of layered double hydroxides." Journal of Spectroscopy (2014). [17] R.S. Yadav, I. Kuřitka, J. Vilcakova, P. Urbánek, M. Machovsky, M. Masař, M. Holek. "Structural, magnetic, optical, dielectric, electrical and modulus spectroscopic characteristics of ZnFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles synthesized via honey-mediated sol-gel combustion method." Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids 110 (2017) 87-99.
Progress in Physics of Applied Materials
Volume 3, Issue 1 - Serial Number 4
(In honor of 80th birthday of Prof. P. Ramasamy)
November 2023
Pages 49-55

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 19 June 2023
  • Revise Date: 22 July 2023
  • Accept Date: 05 August 2023

Share

How to cite

Statistics