One pot molten salt synthesis and photocatalytic studies of magnetically separable copper ferrite microcrystals

Abstract

The preparation of tetragonal and cubic structured CuFe2O4 microcrystals by the one-pot molten salt synthesis in a eutectic mixture of NaCl - KCl molten salts at 800–900 °C is reported. Phase evolution and single-phase formation of CuFe2O4 on temperature and soaking period effect were studied. The structure and morphology of the synthesized compounds were investigated using techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Microscopy studies revealed microcrystals of CuFe2O4 in an octahedron morphology. Photoluminescence and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed the existence of surface oxygen defects on both prepared compounds. The photocatalytic studies of tetragonal and cubic structured CuFe2O4 catalysts shown 89% and 93% degradation of the Rhodamine-B (RhB) dye, respectively, under UV-A (366 nm) irradiation in 90 min. Photocatalytic and magnetic studies indicate that these CuFe2O4 samples are suitable magnetic separable photocatalysts for efficient dye degradation, and can be reasonably reused.