A new strategy for the preparation of porous zinc ferrite nanorods with subsequently light-driven photocatalytic activity

doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2011.06.101

Materials Letters

Volume 65, Issues 19–20, October 2011, Pages 3116-3119

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2011.06.101 Get rights and content

Abstract

Porous zinc ferrite (ZnFe₂O₄) nanorods have been synthesized by the thermal decomposition of ZnFe₂(C₂O₄)₃ nanorods precursor, which was prepared by template-, surfactant-free solvothermal method. The morphology and structure of the obtained ZnFe₂(C₂O₄)₃ nanorods precursor and porous ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results indicated that the as-synthesized ZnFe₂O₄ retained the precursor morphology of 1D nanorods with diameters of 100–200 nm and lengths of several micrometers and plenty of nanoparticles were interconnected to each other to form porous nanorods. The as-prepared ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods as a kind of subsequently light-driven photocatalyst exhibited good photocatalytic decomposition activity for methylene blue (MB).

Highlights

► A new strategy for synthesizing 1D porous ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods was demonstrated. ► Porous ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods were built by nanocrystals via the precursor templates. ► The as-prepared ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods as a kind of subsequently light-driven photocatalyst show good photocatalytic decomposition activity for methylene blue (MB).

Introduction

The transition metal oxides based ferrites (AFe₂O₄) nanostructures have attracted considerable attention because of their unique properties and potential applications [1], [2], [3], [4]. One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures such as nanorods, nanowires, nanobelts and nanotubes were greatly interested because of their unique photochemistry, photophysics, electron transport and mechanical properties and potential application in catalysis, electronics, photonics, drug delivery, medical diagnostics, sensors and magnetic materials [5], [6], [7], [8]. Zinc ferrite (ZnFe₂O₄), as a typical ferrite spinel (AB₂O₄), possesses a wide range of possible applications and properties such as magnetic behavior, electrical characteristics, and catalytic activity, gas-sensing property [1], [9], [10], [11].

Many approaches have been developed to synthesize 1D zinc ferrite. For example, Zhang et al. synthesized meso-scaled ZnFe₂O₄ tubes via one-step homogeneous pyrolysis of the PVA-assisted gel precursor with the aid of a porous alumina template [12]. Liu et al. prepared highly ordered ZnFe₂O₄ nanotube arrays using porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template from sol–gel solution [13]. Mesoporous silica host SBA-15 was also employed to fabricate one-dimensional nanostructured spinel zinc ferrite [14]. ZnFe₂O₄ nanofibers were synthesized by the thermal treatment of the fiber-like precursor that was fabricated by the oxidation of a coprecipitation product obtained by Zn²⁺ and Fe²⁺ in a NaOH solution [15]. Porous zinc ferrite (ZnFe₂O₄) nanorods were successfully prepared by calcination of the amorphous ZnFe₂(C₂O₄)₃ nanorods which were synthesized by a microemulsion-based method [16]. However, the template- or surfactant-direct synthesis suffers from the disadvantages of low yield and high cost. Therefore, it is still a challenge to develop new synthesis strategy to prepare ZnFe₂O₄ 1D nanostructure on a large scale at low cost.

In this paper, we report a new synthesis technique to prepare porous ZnFe₂O₄ 1D nanostructure constructed by nanoparticles. ZnFe₂(C₂O₄)₃ nanorods precursor was firstly fabricated by solvothermal method without the assistance of template or surfactant, then ZnFe₂O₄ 1D nanostructure was obtained though thermal decomposition of ZnFe₂(C₂O₄)₃ nanorods precursor. Methylene blue (MB) was selected as a model pollutant, the photocatalytic property of porous ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods under real sunlight irradiation was also investigated.

Section snippets

Experimental section

All chemicals were of analytical grade and used as received. All aqueous solutions were prepared with deionized water. In a typical experiment, 2 mmol (NH₄)₂Fe(SO₄)₂ and 1 mmol ZnSO₄ were first dissolved in the mixed solvents composed of 30 ml ethylene glycol (EG) and 10 ml water. Similarly, 3 mmol H₂C₂O₄ was added to the identical solutions with the above compositions. The two solutions were slowly mixed together with continuous stirring. Then, the transparent mixture was transferred into an

Results and discussion

Fig. 1a shows the XRD pattern of the hydrothermally synthesized precursor. The pattern of the precursor matches well with the standard pattern of zinc iron oxalate (JCPDS file No. 49-1079). When the precursor was calcined at 400 °C in air for 2 h at the heating rate of 1 °C min⁻¹, all diffraction peaks (Fig. 1b) of the calcined sample can be indexed as pure cubic phase of zinc ferrite (ZnFe₂O₄) with spinel structure (JCPDS file No.79-1150). No impurity phases were detected by XRD analysis,

Conclusion

In summary, we have demonstrated a new strategy for synthesizing 1D porous ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods via the thermal decomposition of ZnFe₂(C₂O₄)₃ nanorod precursor, which was prepared solvothermal method without the assistance of template or surfactant. The obtained ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods retained the rodlike morphology of ZnFe₂(C₂O₄)₃ precursor and were built by plenty of nanocrystals. The nanoholes can be clearly found among the ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles. Furthermore, the as-prepared ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods exhibited

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20907001), University Natural Science Research Project of Anhui Province (KJ2010A336) and Student Research Training Program of Anhui University of Technology (2010017).

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A new strategy for the preparation of porous zinc ferrite nanorods with subsequently light-driven photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

Experimental section

Results and discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

J Colloid Inter Sci

J Lumin

J Photochem Photobiol A: Chem

Appl Cata A: Gen

Sens Actuators B:Chem

Sens Actuators B: Chem

Acta Materialia

Mater Lett

Mater Chem Phys

Micro Meso Mater

Appl Cata B: Environ