Facile polystyrene/ZnO/Fe3O4 nanocomposites prepared via a hydrothermal approach for enhancement of MB dye degradation

摘要

In this present work, polystyrene/ZnO and polystyrene/ZnO/Fe3O4 nanocomposites (NCs) were prepared by a hydrothermal synthesis method. The crystalline nature of the prepared material was studied based on PXRD analysis. The presence of various functional groups in the resultant material was primarily confirmed from FT-IR spectra. The various defect levels [oxygen interstitials (O-i), oxygen vacancies (V-o), zinc interstitials (Zn-i), zinc vacancies (V-Zn) or impurities] observed in the materials were studied using PL spectrum analysis. In addition, the visible emission intensity peak of ZnO gradually decreased as per the reduction rate of defect levels. The various surface morphologies of the synthesized materials were observed via FESEM analysis and the purity of the material was confirmed by the EDAX spectrum. The methylene blue organic dye was degraded utilizing the polystyrene/ZnO and polystyrene/ZnO/Fe3O4 (0.1M, 0.2M, 0.3M) NC catalysts. From the degradation process, polystyrene/ZnO/Fe3O4 (0.3M) NC shows 80% degradation efficiency within 90min of irradiation due to its large surface area.