Engineering of magnetically separable ZnFe2O4@ TiO2 nanofibers for dye-sensitized solar cells and removal of pollutant from water

Saeed Al-Meer*, Zafar Khan Ghouri, Khaled Elsaid, Ahmed Easa, Muneera Th Al-Qahtani, M. Shaheer Akhtar

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study, magnetic Zinc Ferrite (ZnFe2O4)@TiO2 nanofibers were prepared by low cost and nontoxic route; hydrothermal technique followed by electrospinning process. The prepared magnetic ZnFe2O4@TiO2 nanofibers were morphologically and structurally analyzed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The prepared magnetic ZnFe2O4@TiO2 nanofibers were utilized as photoanode for the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and presented applicable performance with 4.2% overall conversion efficiency with high short circuit current density (JSC) of 10.16 mA/cm2. The maximum ∼42% incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) value was also recorded at 530 nm. In addition, ZnFe2O4@TiO2 nanofibers were not only possessed the good conversion efficiency, but also shown excellent photocatalytic efficiency with magnetic properties towards the dye remediation. Prepared ZnFe2O4@TiO2 nanofibers can be considered as a promising material for energy conversion and environmental applications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)477-483
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Alloys and Compounds
Volume723
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Nov 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Electrospinning
  • Hydrothermal method
  • Photoanode
  • Photocatalyst
  • Solar cells
  • Zinc ferrite

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