Simple co-precipitation synthesis of activated carbon-cobalt ferrite (AC-CoFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>) nanocomposites: enhanced photocatalytic dye degradation and antimicrobial activity
B. Catherin Meena, A. Dinesh, Joshua Christy Ezhlilarasi, A. Manikandan, Sabarison Pandiyarajan, S. Kalaivani, A. Muthukrishnaraj, Saravana Kumar Jaganathan, Ho‐Chiao Chuang
Abstract
Abstract In this present work, spinel cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CoFe 2 O 4 NPs) and activated carbon-CoFe 2 O 4 nanocomposites (AC-CoFeO 4 NCs) were synthesized by simple co-precipitation method and used for photocatalytic dye degradation (PCD) of rhodamine-B (Rh-B) dye. The antimicrobial study of the as-synthesized CoFe 2 O 4 NPs was also performed. The as-synthesized CoFe 2 O 4 NPs and AC-CoFe 2 O 4 NCs were analyzed by ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies, scanning electron spectroscopy (FE-SEM) techniques. Powder XRD analysis showed that the as-synthesized CoFeO 4 NPs and AC-CoFeO 4 NCs had average particle size of 18 nm and 46 nm, respectively. The FE-SEM showed that the CoFe 2 O 4 samples have sphere like morphology and were well decorated on activated carbon in order to provide high surface area. AC-CoFe 2 O 4 NCs have effectively used for the PCD of Rh-B dye with high efficiency. Furthermore, spinel CoFe 2 O 4 NPs acted as a more effective antimicrobial agent against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains. Moreover, AC-CoFe 2 O 4 NCs can be used as the precursor materials for supercapacitor, sensors etc.