CuFe₂O₄@CuO magnetic composite synthesized by ultrasound irradiation and degradation of methylene blue on its surface in the presence of sunlight

Spinel ferrite MFe₂O₄ (M= Cu, Ca, Mg, Ni, etc.) nanoparticles and their composites are a new promising materials because have shown their great interest in field of sensing, optoelectronics, catalysis and solar cells due to their unique physical and chemical properties differing from their bulk structures. Today, lots of CuFe₂O₄ nanomaterials have been synthesized by different methods including hydrothermal route and sol-gel combustion method and so forth. Nevertheless, there are hardly any results about photocatalytic activity of it. For this reason, optical properties is increased by preparing composite of it with other oxides. In this paper, CuFe₂O₄@CuO magnetic composite was synthesized by ultrasound method. The samples prepared were characterized by XRD, FT-IR spectroscopy, DRS and SEM images, VSM, and EDS-mapping. The catalytic activity of as-synthesized CuFe₂O₄@CuO was evaluated using the degradation of methylene blue. Furthermore, a possible reaction mechanism was discussed. Finally, the catalyst was used for effective degradation of MB in its solution, which indicated its potential for practical applications in water pollutant removal and environmental remediation.