Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic parameters investigation of a new CuFe2O4/Bi2O3 nanocomposite

Abstract Synthesis of heterojunctions to improve the efficiency of photocatalyst and charge-transfer properties has been a major concern recently. A novel photocatalyst copper ferrite-bismuth oxide (CuFe2O4/Bi2O3) nanocomposite was synthesized with unique magnetic properties. In this nanocomposite catalyst, the nano-petals of bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) were entangled with CuFe2O4 particles via the ultra-sonication method. The structure of as-synthesized samples was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), whereas the morphology and optical band gap was determined using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and UV–Vis spectrophotometry. Comparative photocatalytic activity of copper ferrite and the nanocomposite was examined for the degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) dye. The superior performance of photocatalyst is attributed to the visible light sanitizer; CuFe2O4 could assist Bi2O3 to absorb more photons of incident light which promotes the production of photoexcited electron-hole pairs. Additionally, the catalyst could be recycled and separated from the dye without any loss of photocatalytic efficiency owing to good chemical stability as well as magnetic separation.