Synergistic Effect of Zn Doping on the Structural, Optical, and Photocatalytic Properties of Sol–Gel Derived Spinel Ferrite for Tetracycline Photodegradation

IF 2.3 4区化学 Q3 CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL

Catalysis Letters Pub Date : 2025-03-12 DOI:10.1007/s10562-025-04978-x

M. Hisham Al Nasir, Muhammad Yasar, Abdul Maajid Khokhar, Kinza Fatima, Muzaffar Abbas, Mahrukh Ali, Faiz Mahmood, Khalid S. Almaary, Tawaf Ali Shah, Devendra Pratap Rao

{"title":"Synergistic Effect of Zn Doping on the Structural, Optical, and Photocatalytic Properties of Sol–Gel Derived Spinel Ferrite for Tetracycline Photodegradation","authors":"M. Hisham Al Nasir, Muhammad Yasar, Abdul Maajid Khokhar, Kinza Fatima, Muzaffar Abbas, Mahrukh Ali, Faiz Mahmood, Khalid S. Almaary, Tawaf Ali Shah, Devendra Pratap Rao","doi":"10.1007/s10562-025-04978-x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Pharmaceutical pollution, particularly contamination of aquatic environments, poses a significant global environmental challenge. This study introduces a novel photocatalytic approach for tetracycline removal using zinc-doped strontium magnesium aluminum ferrite (Zn<sub>x</sub>Sr<sub>0.7−x</sub>Mg<sub>0.3</sub>Al<sub>0.1</sub>Fe<sub>1.9</sub>O<sub>4</sub>, (x = 0, 0.3)) nanoparticles. We successfully engineered photocatalysts with enhanced structural and photocatalytic properties using a sophisticated sol–gel synthesis method. The zinc-doped material demonstrated remarkable improvements compared to its undoped counterpart. The key structural modifications included a reduced crystallite size (from 35.55 nm to 27.55 nm), significantly increased surface area (from 6.63 m<sup>2</sup>/g to 32.14 m<sup>2</sup>/g), and a narrowed bandgap (from 2.7 eV to 2.4 eV). These modifications directly translated into superior photocatalytic performance, with the tetracycline degradation efficiency increasing from 73.67 to 98.43%. Mechanistic investigations revealed the presence of hydroxyl radicals as the primary degradation mechanism, with first-order kinetics governing the reaction. The catalyst demonstrated exceptional stability, maintaining 93.45% degradation efficiency after five consecutive cycles. The quantum efficiency was improved by 34%, highlighting the potential of strategic metal doping for enhancing photocatalytic materials. This study provides a promising strategy for pharmaceutical pollution remediation and offers insights into advanced material design for environmental applications. Zinc-doped spinel ferrite represents a significant advancement in the development of efficient recyclable photocatalysts for water treatment.</p><h3>Graphical abstract</h3><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":508,"journal":{"name":"Catalysis Letters","volume":"155 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Catalysis Letters","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10562-025-04978-x","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Pharmaceutical pollution, particularly contamination of aquatic environments, poses a significant global environmental challenge. This study introduces a novel photocatalytic approach for tetracycline removal using zinc-doped strontium magnesium aluminum ferrite (Zn_xSr_0.7−xMg_0.3Al_0.1Fe_1.9O₄, (x = 0, 0.3)) nanoparticles. We successfully engineered photocatalysts with enhanced structural and photocatalytic properties using a sophisticated sol–gel synthesis method. The zinc-doped material demonstrated remarkable improvements compared to its undoped counterpart. The key structural modifications included a reduced crystallite size (from 35.55 nm to 27.55 nm), significantly increased surface area (from 6.63 m²/g to 32.14 m²/g), and a narrowed bandgap (from 2.7 eV to 2.4 eV). These modifications directly translated into superior photocatalytic performance, with the tetracycline degradation efficiency increasing from 73.67 to 98.43%. Mechanistic investigations revealed the presence of hydroxyl radicals as the primary degradation mechanism, with first-order kinetics governing the reaction. The catalyst demonstrated exceptional stability, maintaining 93.45% degradation efficiency after five consecutive cycles. The quantum efficiency was improved by 34%, highlighting the potential of strategic metal doping for enhancing photocatalytic materials. This study provides a promising strategy for pharmaceutical pollution remediation and offers insights into advanced material design for environmental applications. Zinc-doped spinel ferrite represents a significant advancement in the development of efficient recyclable photocatalysts for water treatment.

Graphical abstract

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Catalysis Letters 化学-物理化学

CiteScore

5.70

自引率

3.60%

发文量

327

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： Catalysis Letters aim is the rapid publication of outstanding and high-impact original research articles in catalysis. The scope of the journal covers a broad range of topics in all fields of both applied and theoretical catalysis, including heterogeneous, homogeneous and biocatalysis. The high-quality original research articles published in Catalysis Letters are subject to rigorous peer review. Accepted papers are published online first and subsequently in print issues. All contributions must include a graphical abstract. Manuscripts should be written in English and the responsibility lies with the authors to ensure that they are grammatically and linguistically correct. Authors for whom English is not the working language are encouraged to consider using a professional language-editing service before submitting their manuscripts.