Effect of Al3+substituted zinc ferrite on photocatalytic degradation ofOrange I azo dye

tAluminum substituted zinc ferrite catalysts were prepared by the sol-gel auto-combustion method andcharacterized by using Mössbauer spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm measure-ments. The photocatalytic activity of ZnFe2−xAlxO4(0 ≤ x ≤ 2) spinel ferrites was evaluated for the firsttime on Orange I azo dye degradation under UV light illumination. The results showed that the photo-catalytic process was promoted when aluminum cations substituted iron cations located in octahedralsites of zinc ferrite lattice. Therefore, the Orange I azo dye best removal efficiency was observed when theAl3+and Fe3+are presents in equimolar amounts. The dye degradation performance of the ZnFe2−xAlxO4(0 ≤ x ≤ 2) catalysts was related to the crystallite size than to the BET surface area values and to thepresence of secondary phases, such as -Fe2O3and ZnO.