An overview of nanostructured manganese ferrite as a promising visible-light-driven photocatalyst for wastewater remediation

Photocatalytic degradation is a promising advanced oxidation process technology for the removal of various pollutants from wastewater due to its excellent photocatalytic activity, low energy utilization, and low cost. Also, recently, magnetic-based processes attract increasing attention due to their capability and adaptability in decontamination. As a potential photocatalyst, MnFe2O4 nanoparticles have emerged as an interesting material for the degradation of numerous contaminants caused by their tolerable band gap, wide harvesting of visible light, good stability, and recyclability. This article is an unprecedented review of the state-of-the-art progress on MnFe2O4 and their composites with an emphasis in visible-light photocatalytic application towards wastewater remediation, intrinsic properties of the photocatalysts, preparation method and techniques to improve photocatalytic performance, their current prospects, and challenges in heterogeneous systems. Furthermore, their potential and practical applications of environmental technologies were discussed. The most significant findings that emerged from this study suggest that surface modifications can be performed to improve the development of multiphase photocatalysts with MnFe2O4 in the photocatalytic process due to its numerous advantages, such as synergism in the photo-Fenton process, use of sunlight as a source of irradiation, and the impairment of electron-hole recombination. •An unprecedented review of MnFe2O4 as a photocatalyst is presented.•MnFe2O4 has a synergism effect in the photo-Fenton process.•MnFe2O4 allows the use of sunlight as an irradiation source.•Photocatalytic degradation can be improved by MnFe2O4 surface modifications.•MnFe2O4 multiphase photocatalysts impair electron-hole recombination.