Size‐Dependent Structural, Optical and Photocatalytic Properties of Zirconium Ferrite Prepared via a Sol‐Gel Route

Abstract

Zirconium ferrite (ZrFe2O4) nanoparticles with different sizes (43, 56 and 69 nm) were synthesized by the sol‐gel synthesis technique after calcination at 400, 600 and 800 °C, respectively. The X‐ray diffraction (XRD) method was used to study the change in crystal structure with temperature andrevealed the increase inaverage crystallite sizewith the increase in calcination temperature.Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used to investigate the morphology and elemental analysis. The SEM study confirmed the spherical shape and homogenous distribution of the nanoparticles.The optical band gap reduced from 2.5 eV to 2.24 eV with an increase in particle size from 43 to 69 nm, studied using UV‐Vis spectroscopy.The ZrFe2O4 nanoparticles with smaller particle size displayed better photocatalytic activities than that with larger particle size for the degradation of hazardous dyes methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB) under UV radiation. The photodegradation of MB and RhB catalyzed by the ZrFe2O4 nanoparticles was a pseudo‐first‐order reaction. The maximum degradation for MB and RhB was 70 % and 95 %,respectively, in just 120 minutes for the sample having the smallest size due to its large surface area.This study confirmed that the ZrFe2O4 nanoparticles are apromisingcandidate for the catalysis of organic dyes through the redox reaction.