Facile fabrication of heterostructured cubic-CuFe2O4/ZnO nanofibers (c-CFZs) with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity and magnetic separation

Abstract

A novel p–n heterojunction photocatalyst of cubic-CuFe₂O₄/ZnO nanofibers (c-CFZs) was fabricated through a simple and economical technique of electrospinning technique combined with coprecipitation method. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The prepared cubic-CuFe₂O₄ (c-CuFe₂O₄) nanofibers revealed lengths of several micrometers and were composed of many c-CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles about 15–20 nm in size. After coprecipitation, the surface of c-CuFe₂O₄ nanofibers was densely covered with ZnO particles. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by monitoring the degradation of the dye model Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible-light irradiation. Compared with pure ZnO and c-CuFe₂O₄, the c-CFZs exhibited a better photocatalytic performance. The enhanced activity could be attributed to the extended absorption in the visible light region resulting from c-CuFe₂O₄ and the effective separation of photo-generated carriers driven by the photo-induced potential difference generated at the p–n heterojunction photocatalyst of c-CFZs. Furthermore, these nanofibers could be recollected easily with a magnet after the photocatalytic process, avoiding secondary pollution of treated water effectively.