Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity Of Core-Shell Znfe2o4@Zno Nanoparticles For Visible Light Photodegradation

A facile, efficient approach to fabricate ZnFe2O4@ZnO nanoparticles with a good core shell structure was reported, involving the coating of successive layers of ZnO nanoparticles on a magnetic core by a sol gel hydrothermal method at low temperatures. The as-synthesized ZnFe2O4@ZnO nanoparticles exhibited a narrow size distribution, with a typical size of 210 +/- 19 nm and shell thickness of 35 nm. The ZnFe2O4@ZnO photocatalyst exhibited high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue under solar light. Compared with ZnFe2O4, ZnFe2O4@ZnO exhibited higher photocatalytic efficiency, caused by the generation of a large number of electron hole pairs. ZnFe2O4@ZnO exhibited excellent reusability with high photocatalytic efficiencies, indicative of its suitability for the solar photocatalytic applications.