Photocatalytic degradation of reactive blue 21 dye via Zn0.5Cu0.5Mn2O4 spinel nanoparticles

Nanotechnology can be described as the capability to operate, measure, make and manufacture the particles at the size of 1–100 nm [1]. Materials and it Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary knowledge, it is the interdisciplinary, including toxicology, medical, physics, chemistry, biology, mechanics, engineering, and recently environment [2]. Water pollution is categorized as part of the main types of environmental pollution. Water pollution has harmful effects on the environment and also on the living, so providing a solution to reduce water pollution is particularly important [3]. Among the pollutant agent, we can point to organic dyes from industrial processes and textile as one of the main polluting water sources and create an important environmental crisis. Photocatalysis is considered as one of the important and efficient approaches to dismiss the dyes in wastewater [4,5]. The photocatalytic activity of Zn0.5Cu0.5Mn2O4 photo-catalyst was evaluated in the degradation of reactive blue 21 dye at room temperature in aqueous solution so that 95% of reactive blue 21 dye was degraded in 60 min. Zn0.5Cu0.5Mn2O4 spinel nanoparticles characterized by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and percent of RB21 degradation which was followed by UV–Visible spectroscopy.