Original Articles
Rahmayeni*, Devi A., Yeni Stia
Abstract
In this study, an attempt was made to prepare the magnetic nanocomposites of ZnO/CoFe2O4 by sol-gel process followed hydrothermal method and used as photocatalyst for degradation of dye in water. The crystal phase, surface morphology, chemical composition and magnetic properties were investigated by XRD, FESEM-EDX and VSM, respectively. The photocatalytic activities of the as-prepared sample have been evaluated by photodegradation of Rhodamin B under solar light irradiation. The SEM image showed that the nanocomposites composed of rod-like particles. The specific peaks of XRD pattern of nanocomposites correspond to the spinel cubic of CoFe2O and hexagonal wurtzite of ZnO. The magnetic properties of ZnO/CoFe2O4 nanocomposites exhibit a ferromagnetic behavior, which is useful for the separation and it could be reuse after photocatalytic process. All of nanocomposites exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than pure ZnO, and at 1:0.01 molar ratio of ZnO to CoFe2O4, the obtained product showed the highest photocatalytic activity.