A facile synthesis and study of photocatalytic properties of magnetic CaFe2O4-CeO2 nanocomposites applicable for separation of toxic azo dyes

Abstract

At the first step calcium ferrite nanostructures were synthesized via a facile precipitation method in the presence of green and compatible capping agent such as starch, poly vinyl pyrrolidone and glucose in solvent of water. Then cerium oxide nanoparticles and CaFe2O4-CeO2 nanocomposites was made by a fast chemical procedure. The effect of temperature in nanoparticles and nanocomposites concentration and precipitating agent on the morphology and particle size of the products was investigated. The prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Also the crystalline size of nanoparticles was calculated by Debye-Scherrer formula. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) shows the ferromagnetic property of the ferrite nanostructures. The photocatalytic behaviour of CaFe2O4-CeO2 nanocomposites was evaluated using the degradation of three azo dyes (acid black, acid violet and acid blue) under ultraviolet light irradiation. The results introduce a nanocomposite with applicable magnetic and photocatalytic performance.