Synthesis of NiFe2O4 Photocatalyst to Apply for Treatment of Residual Tetracycline in Aqueous Environment with Addition of H2O2

Abstract

In the study, NiFe2O4 was successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method for treatment of residual tetracycline (TC) in aqueous environment. The study also investigated effects of H2O2 as electron an acceptor to enhance TC photocatalytic degradation of the synthesized NiFe2O4. The properties of synthesized materials were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis absoprtion spectroscopy (UV-VIS) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) systems. The obtained results indicated that the synthesized NiFe2O4 were nano-particles with average size of approximately 50 nm. The synthesized NiFe2O4 also exhibited high visible light absorption and magnetic ability. The TC removal results indicated that the NiFe2O4 adsorbed certain amount of tetracycline under dark condition. Under visible light, the NiFe2O4 further degraded significant tetracycline amount. Finally, the study investigated that H2O2 effectively acted as electron acceptor for hydroxyl radical production to degrade tetracycline.