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Photocatalytic Degradation of Congo Red Dye from Aqueous Environment Using Cobalt Ferrite Nanostructures: Development, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Performance

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Abstract

Highly efficient and effective treatments of hazardous dye-based color effluents are a major problem in the industrial sector. In this research, the cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) catalyst was produced and used for the degradation of Congo red (CR) as a model dye from aqueous solution. For a said purpose, cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanostructures with photocatalytic degradation potential were engineered via co-precipitation method using Fe2(SO4)3, CoO2, and triethylene glycol (as a stabilizing agent). As prepared, CoFe2O4 nanostructures were further surface-functionalized with 3-APTES and tested for CR degradation. The prepared CoFe2O4 nanostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmitt-Teller (BET) analysis. UV-visible absorption was used to measure the optical band gap of prepared CoFe2O4 nanostructures through Tauc plots. The as-prepared CoFe2O4 nanostructure bandgap was found to be 2.71 EV while using an acidic medium. The degradation rates of CR dye for bs-CoFe2O4, as-CoFe2O4, and fs-CoFe2O4 nanostructures at pH 9 were 84, 87, and 92%, respectively. Furthermore, the influences of various process parameters, i.e., the effect of catalyst dose, contact time, dye dose/concentration, pH effect, and effect of different acids, were checked for the prepared three types of nanostructures, i.e., bs-CoFe2O4, as-CoFe2O4, and fs-CoFe2O4. The kinetics models properly explained that the reaction of degradation following pseudo-first-order kinetics.

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Funding

All listed authors are grateful to their representative departments and universities for the financial support and analytical services used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Palygorskite Science and Applied Technology of Jiangsu Province, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Deep Utilization Technology of Rock-salt Resource, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian, 223003, China

    Nisar Ali

  2. Department of Chemistry, Hazara University, Mansehra, KPK, 21300, Pakistan

    Amir Said, Farman Ali & Zarshad Ali

  3. School of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, People’s Republic of China

    Fazal Raziq

  4. School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian, 223003, China

    Muhammad Bilal

  5. University Savoie Mont-Blanc, LCME, 73000, Chambéry, France

    Laurence Reinert

  6. Benazir Bhutto University Lower Dir, Shringal, Pakistan

    Tasleem Begum

  7. Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Campus Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, CP 64849, Monterrey, NL, Mexico

    Hafiz M. N. Iqbal

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  1. Nisar Ali
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  2. Amir Said
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  3. Farman Ali
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  4. Fazal Raziq
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  8. Tasleem Begum
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  9. Hafiz M. N. Iqbal
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Ali, N., Said, A., Ali, F. et al. Photocatalytic Degradation of Congo Red Dye from Aqueous Environment Using Cobalt Ferrite Nanostructures: Development, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Performance. Water Air Soil Pollut 231, 50 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-4410-8

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