Background

Photodegradation of organic pollutants is considered to be the most suitable and cheaper technique to counter the decontamination issues. Metal nanoparticles are considered to be the most effective heterogeneous photocatalysts for photodegradation of organic pollutants. Besides, iron oxide nanoparticles are well-known photocatalysts for degrading organic pollutants.

Methods

We reported the synthesis of neat iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NPs) and zirconia supported iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄/ZrO₂ NPs) by facile chemical reduction technique for photodegradation ofa toxic azo dye namely methyl red.

Results

The XRD and FTIR analysis has demonstrated a crystalline phase Fe₃O₄ NPs. The morphological features via scanning electronic microscopy (FESEM) suggested agglomerated morphology of neat Fe₃O₄ NPs with 803.54 ± 5.11 nm average particle size and revealed the uniform morphology and homogenous dispersion of Fe₃O₄ NPs over ZrO₂ surface in Fe₃O₄/ZrO₂ nanocomposite. A polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.47 showed sufficient variations in the particle size of neat Fe₃O₄ NPs, which is also supported by the results obtained from atomic force microscopy (AFM), FESEM and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Fe₃O₄/ZrO₂ NPs demonstrated efficient methyl red degradation over a short period of time under simulated light and degraded about ~ 91.0 ± 1.0% and 87.0 ± 1.0% dye in 40 min, under UV and visible light, respectively.

Conclusion

The excellent photodegradation efficacy and sustainability of Fe₃O₄/ZrO₂ NPs can be attributed to the homogenous distribution of Fe₃O₄ NPs over ZrO₂, which facilitates the generation of photoexcitons (electrons and holes), enhanced charge transfer and minimize the charge recombination.

中文翻译：

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通过修饰单斜氧化锆提高 Fe 3 O 4 纳米粒子的光催化潜力和可回收性

 背景

有机污染物的光降解被认为是解决净化问题最合适、最便宜的技术。金属纳米粒子被认为是光降解有机污染物最有效的多相光催化剂。此外，氧化铁纳米粒子是众所周知的降解有机污染物的光催化剂。

 方法

我们报道了通过简单的化学还原技术合成纯氧化铁纳米粒子（Fe ₃ O ₄ NPs）和氧化锆负载的氧化铁纳米粒子（Fe ₃ O ₄ /ZrO ₂ NPs），用于光降解有毒偶氮染料（即甲基红）。

 结果

XRD和FTIR分析证明了Fe ₃ O ₄ NPs的晶相。扫描电子显微镜（FESEM）的形态特征表明平均粒径为803.54±5.11 nm的纯Fe ₃ O ₄ NPs的团聚形态，并揭示了Fe ₃ O ₄ NPs在Fe ₃ O中ZrO ₂表面上的均匀形态和均匀分散₄ /ZrO ₂纳米复合材料。 0.47 的多分散指数 (PDI) 显示纯 Fe ₃ O ₄ NP 的粒径有足够的变化，这也得到原子力显微镜 (AFM)、FESEM 和透射电子显微镜 (TEM) 获得的结果的支持。 Fe ₃ O ₄ /ZrO ₂ NPs 在模拟光下在短时间内表现出有效的甲基红降解作用，并在紫外光和可见光下分别在 40 分钟内降解约 91.0 ± 1.0% 和 87.0 ± 1.0% 染料。

 结论

Fe ₃ O ₄ /ZrO ₂ NPs 优异的光降解功效和可持续性可归因于 Fe ₃ O ₄ NPs 在 ZrO ₂上的均匀分布，这有利于光激子（电子和空穴）的产生，增强电荷转移并最大限度地减少电荷复合。