Boosting sunlight driven photocatalytic and catalytic performance of ZnFe2O4-ZnO nanohybrids by loading Ag nanoparticles

We report facile fabrication of magnetically separable Ag@ZnFe2O4-ZnO plasmonic hybrid nanostructures by a simple wet chemical route combined with cost-effective photodeposition. The successful formation of Ag@ZnFe2O4-ZnO hybrid nanostructures was confirmed using XRD, Raman, FESEM, TEM, HRTEM and SAED characterizations. The catalytic and photocatalytic capabilities of the synthesized magnetic Ag@ZnFe2O4-ZnO plasmonic hybrid nanostructures were evaluated with regard to 4-NP to 4-AP reduction in dark and photodecomposition of major anionic and cationic pollutants (MB, MG, MO, RhB) and emerging pollutant levofloxacin antibiotic under sunlight illumination, respectively. Results showed that Ag@ZnFe2O4-ZnO hybrid nanostructures exhibit excellent catalytic as well as photocatalytic response and reduced 98.1 % of 4-NP in only 6 min and decolorized 92.9, 93, 43.4 and 73.3 % of MB, MG, MO and RhB within only 18 min and 90.5 % of levofloxacin in 40 min of sun light irradiation, respectively. Further, the synthesized nanohybrids possess high stability and can be magnetically recovered due to its good magnetic response. In addition, the trapping experiments indicated that the main active compounds for the photodegradation of dyes are center dot OH radicals. We demonstrate that the prepared Ag@ZnFe2O4-ZnO plasmonic hybrid nanostructures have potential application towards decomposition of organic pollutants and other emerging pollutants in wastewater for environmental remediation.