Synthesis and characterization of MoO3/CoFe2O4 nanocomposite for photocatalytic applications

Fabrication of a MoO3/CoFe2O4 nanocomposite targeted for the enhanced photodegradation in the visible region was carried out by using molybdenum oxide nano-rods and cobalt ferrite nano-particles obtained by a chemical co-precipitation template free route. For structural determination, X-ray diffraction (XRD) was carried out and the crystallite size was found to be < 15 nm. For morphological analysis, Scanning Electron Microscopy was used which confirmed the formation of MoO3 nano-rods and CoFe2O4 nano-particles in the synthesized nanocomposite. The thickness of the nano-rods of molybdenum oxide was estimated to be 73.6 nm, while the average size of the nano-particles of cobalt ferrite was calculated to be 24.9 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy results conferred to the XRD diffractograms. Reduction in the band gap of the MoO3/CoFe2O4 nanocomposite leads to brilliant photocatalytic degradation. Almost 91% degradation of of the methylene blue, 54% degradation of rhodamine B and 65% degradation of crystal violet was observed by the as synthesized nanocomposite. This magnificent increment was due to enhancement in the easy transmission of electrons from the valence band to the conduction band and limiting the probability of recombination rate of photoexcited species.