Ultrasound-assisted degradation of rhodamine B(RhB) organic dye onmagnetic ZnFe2O4-ZnS-ZSM-5 nanocomposite catalyst from water media

Magnetic ZnFe2O4-ZnS-ZSM-5 zeolite nanocomposite was successfully fabricated using hydrothermal route. The gained nanocomposite was identified via Field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, magnetic measurements, and Brunauere-Emmette-Teller. The outcomes affirmed the production of ZnFe2O4-ZnS-ZSM-5 nanocomposite with the average crystallite size of 14 nm. The aforementioned nanocomposite was utilized as a newly sonocatalyst for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) organic dye under ultrasound irradiation. The data revealed complete degradation of RhB (25 mg/L) within 12 min in the presence of ZnFe2O4-ZnS-ZSM-5 nanocomposite and H2O2 (4 mM). The trapping experiments demonstrated that •OH free radicals are the main active species in the degradation of RhB. Furthermore, sonocatalytic performance of the ZnFe2O4-ZnS-ZSM-5 nanocomposite was higher than those of raw ZnFe2O4 and ZnS, illustrating that the combining ZnS with magnetic ZnFe2O4 could be a suitable choice to enhance its sonocatalytic performance. The nanocomposite could be magnetically separated and recycles without any observable change in its structure and activity even after four sequential cycles