LAUSR

Abstract Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4(NZ)/polypyrrole(PPy) nanocomposites, were prepared via in-situ oxidative self-polymerization method in presence of different weight percentage of NZ, synthesized via sol-gel auto combustion method. Structural, compositional, spectral and optical properties of the samples were thoroughly investigated. Samples were also characterized by SQUID magnetometer to determine room temperature saturation magnetization (Ms) of the samples. Among all of the prepared samples, 50 wt% of NZ/PPy nano hybrid (NZ50/PPy) showed best photo catalytic degradation of Methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes under visible light illumination even after five cycles of repeated use. To compare the efficiency of the organic-inorganic photo catalysts for both of the dyes, first order rate constants of the photo degradation process were calculated. Scavenger test was also carried out to detect the active species. Facilitation of charge separation due to formation of organic-inorganic nano hybrid as well as enhanced electron-hole pair generation may be attributed to the excellent photo degradation of dyes. Moreover, the sample, NZ50/PPy showed reasonable amount of Ms, which makes it suitable as a potential magnetically separable photo catalyst useful in industrial waste water treatment.