Abstract
Using the co-precipitation oxidation method and metal salt precursors, pure MFe
2
O
4
(M = Co, Zn, Cu and Ni) photocatalysts were prepared co-precipitation method. The several properties of photocatalysts were studied. In sunlight and at neutral pH, all photocatalysts degraded crystal violet and performance ranking was NiFe
2
O
4
< CoFe
2
O
4
< CuFe2O4 < ZnFe
2
O
4
. Among these photocatalysts, ZnFe
2
O
4
showed the highest photocatalytic degradation performance due to the smallest particle sizes, which were widely distributed. More channels were obtained due to the small pore volume providing a high number of active sites with optical band gap values of 1.69-2.55 eV. The photocatalytic degradation was an effect of the ratio of Zn/Fe, photocatalyst loadings, and calcination temperature. Calcination time and reaction duration were studied. The photocatalytic degradation reaction was almost completed within 24 h using Zn:Fe (1:2). The reaction followed the first-order rate constant. Photocatalysts were stable for seven times recycles.