Development of cost effective, solar light active Cu1-xCaxFe2O4 nanocomposite catalysts for water treatment

Novel, efficient and magnetically recyclable calcium substituted copper ferrite photocatalysts were synthesized via a facile green approach. As prepared Cu1-xCaxFe2O4 composites were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and UV–Vis spectrophotometer. The result shows that there is an enhancement in electron transfer and charge separation efficiency of calcium substituted copper ferrites leading to a significant improvement in photocatalytic efficiency. As prepared samples shows high visible light absorption which favors catalytic activity and also shows good magnetic separation for reuse. UV–Vis spectrophotometer was used for the destruction of model organic pollutant. Under natural sun light irradiation the as prepared samples exhibit superior photocatalytic activity toward malachite green (MG). The model organic pollutant inactivation mechanism was investigated in a scavenger study, and •O2, H2O2, and h+ were identified as the major reactive species for organic pollutant inactivation. The calcium substituted copper ferrite exhibit excellent stability and reusability. The experimental results indicate that calcium substituted copper ferrites have great potential in large scale photocatalytic disinfection operations.