Facile synthesis, morphological, structural, photocatalytic and optical properties of ZnFe2O4-ZnO hybrid nanostructures

ZnFe2O4-ZnO heterojunction photocatalysts have been fabricated via simple co-precipitation method and systematically characterized. The structural and morphological analyses using XRD, Raman and FESEM confirmed the formation of ZnFe2O4-ZnO hybrid nanostructures. The optical properties were analysed via UV-vis DRS, PL and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. UV-vis DRS studies showed band gap variation from 1.91 to 2.07 eV. The visible light-driven photodegradation activity of the synthesized products was explored by decomposing toxic pollutants in water and the results showed that ZnFe2O4-ZnO hybrid nanostructures exhibit superior photodegradation performance over pristine ZnFe2O4 nanostructures. The improved photocatalytic performance of ZnFe2O4-ZnO nanostructures is ascribed to efficient sunlight utilization ability and suppression of recombination of photoinduced charge carriers due to p-n nanoheterojunction formation. In addition, photodegradation mechanism supported with scavenger experiments has been proposed. Besides the excellent photoactivity, ZnFe2O4-ZnO hybrid nanostructures are outstandingly stable, recyclable and thereby exhibit an enormous potential for large scale photocatalytic applications. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.