(Y 3+ /Sm 3+ )-doped and co-doped CoFe 2 O 4 for heterogeneous advanced oxidation process: structural, magneto-optical, and photocatalytic investigations

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2024-09
• Main Authors: Oulhakem, Oussama, Belaiche, Mohammed, El Ansary, Moustapha, Lemine, Mohamed Abdellah, Salameh, Belal, Alsmadi, Abdel Khaleq Mousa, Alaoui, Kawtar Belrhiti
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1614-7499

The photocatalytic properties of CoFe O nanoparticles were activated by the doping and co-doping of a low level of Y and Sm cations. After optimizing the annealing temperature, 900 °C was found to be the optimal temperature for the successful incorporation of Y and Sm into the spinel structure. The purity of our samples annealed at 900 °C was confirmed using several characterization methods, including PXRD, SEM, XPS, VSM, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. Thus, we were able to increase the photocatalytic degradation of orange G dye from 9.9 to 64.63% for the Sm -doped sample, 76.42% for the Y -doped sample, and even 85.81% for the co-doped sample under 60 min of UV-visible light irradiation. The beneficial effect of samarium and yttrium doping and co-doping is attributed to several factors: the first factor is doped and co-doped rare earth impurities induce distortion in the lattice, the larger the ionic radii of dopant element, the highest is the photocatalytic activity; second factor, upon doping and co-doping of rare earth impurities in the structure of CoFe O leads to the creation of donor state level within the band gap, causing the Fermi energy to shift near the conduction band. Third factor, co-doping produced strong interactions, which accelerated photocarrier mobility and transport; lastly, longer electron-holes lifetime. We have provided a detailed study of the structural, vibrational, and optical properties to support our conclusions.