Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2017) 132: 328
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2017-11602-x

Regular Article

Synthesis of visible light active Gd³⁺-substituted ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles for photocatalytic and antibacterial activities

¹ Department of Studies and Research in Industrial Chemistry School of Chemical Sciences, Kuvempu University, 577451, Shankaragatta, India
² Department of Chemistry, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, 572103, Tumkur, India
³ Department of Chemistry, Sahyadri Science College, Shimoga, 577203, Karnataka, India

^* e-mail: hsb_naik@rediffmail.com

Received: 6 April 2017
Accepted: 20 June 2017
Published online: 3 August 2017

Abstract

In the present analysis, we study the assembly of a low-cost and visible light active ZnFe_2-xGd_xO₄ (x = 0 , 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7) nanoparticles (NPs) photocatalyst. The synthesized samples were characterized by several physicochemical techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The phase transition from cubic to orthorhombic was confirmed by XRD patterns. The increase in the concentration of Gd³⁺ substitution in ZnFe₂O₄ NPs enhances the redshift of absorption in the visible region of UV-Vis absorption spectra and reduces the band gap. In the photo-Fenton-type reaction, the gadolinium-substituted zinc ferrite (ZGF) NPs exhibit a significant catalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (99% in 90 minutes) under visible light (500W xenon lamp) with respect to bare samples (95% in 240 minutes) and they also show an excellent reusability nature. These materials were also screened for antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli).