Facile green preparation of Y2O3 decorated with ZnFe2O4 using citrus limon (L.) osbeck leaf extract for photocatalytic degradation of malachite green

The Y2O3 decorated with ZnFe2O4 was successfully synthesized using Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck leaf extract for the first time. A modification of Y2O3 with ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles was carried out because Y2O3 is stable but has a wide band gap, making it less active in visible light. On the other hand, ZnFe2O4 has a small band gap and is cheap. The synthesized ZnFe2O4/Y2O3 nanocomposites, ZnFe2O4, and Y2O3 nanoparticles were characterized using FTIR, XRD, TEM, SEM, and DRS UV–Vis. TEM and DRS UV–Vis results show that the ZnFe2O4/Y2O3 nanocomposite particle has a size of 49,61 nm with a unique shape and an optical band gap of 2.08 eV. The photocatalytic activity of Y2O3, ZnFe2O4, and ZnFe2O4/Y2O3 was observed based on the photodegradation of malachite green (MG) dye under visible light. The results demonstrate that ZnFe2O4/Y2O3 can degrade MG with a photodegradation percentage of 95 % within 120 min, which is better than pure ZnFe2O4 and Y2O3. After the fourth cycle, the photodegradation percentage of MG by ZnFe2O4/Y2O3 remained at 88 %, demonstrating good reusability of ZnFe2O4/Y2O3 for photocatalytic degradation. These findings demonstrate that the use of ZnFe2O4 as a modifier may increase the photocatalytic performance of Y2O3.