Fabrication and sonocatalytic activity of magnetic MIL-53(Fe)/NaY/NiFe2O4 nanocomposite For the organic dyes degradation in aqueous solutions

The aim of this research was to fabricate the magnetic MIL-53(Fe)/NaY/NiFe₂O₄ nanaocomposite catalyst applying a hydrothermal method to be used for the sonocatalytic degradation of malachite green (MG), congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB) organic dyes. The structural and magnetic properties of the nanocomposite was characterized by FESEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR, VSM, AFM, and BET. To study the sonocatalytic performance of the as-fabricated MIL-53(Fe)/NaY/NiFe₂O₄ catalyst, the H₂O₂-assisted degradation of MG, CR, MB and RhB in aqueous solution was investigated under ultrasound irradiation. The obtained data illustrated that the MIL-53(Fe)/NaY/NiFe₂O₄ nanaocomposite catalyst had better activity for the sonodegradation of MG, CR, MB and RhB than MIL-53(Fe)/NaY, NaY/NiFe₂O₄, MIL-53(Fe)/NiFe₂O₄, MIL-53(Fe), NaY or NiFe₂O₄. The enhanced sonocatalytic performance of the MIL-53(Fe)/NaY/NiFe₂O₄ nanocomposite could be corresponded to the rapid generation and separation of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in MIL-53(Fe) and NiFe₂O₄ and their transfer to the NaY zeolite surface. Besides, the recyclability of the sonocatalyst from aqueous solution could be easily achieved via an external magnetic field. The effects of several parameters on the sonocatalytic activity such as initial dye concentration and catalyst amount were also evaluated. The trapping experiments demonstrated that ^•OH radicals are the main active species in the organic dye degradation.