Green Synthesis of Fe₃O₄/TiO₂ Nanoparticles Using Extracts of <i>Moringa oleifera</i>: Microstructural and Optical Properties

Abstract

Fe3O4 and Fe3O4/TiO2 magnetic nanoparticles have been successfully prepared using an eco-friendly green synthesis method with various Moringa Oleifera (MO) extract concentrations. The X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results confirmed that the microstructure of Fe3O4 nanoparticles is a cubic inverse spinel structure with an average particle size of 9.2–11.7 nm and lattice parameters is in the range of 8.14–13.60 Å and the MO did not change the morphological structure of Fe3O4. Fourier-transform infrared showed that the samples had magnetic particles vibration peaks at 632 cm-1 and 570 cm-1, 500–700 cm-1 for Ti-O peaks, and 1047 cm-1 for aromatic C-C indicating green synthesis. Furthermore, the results of UV-VIS data presented the absorption edges of Fe3O4, Fe3O4-MO, and Fe3O4/TiO2-MO were 187.9 nm, 198.7 nm, and 197.1 nm, respectively. The bandgap energy of Fe3O4-MO is in the range of 2.62–2.66 eV and the bandgap energy of Fe3O4/TiO2-MO is 2.76 eV which explains that it depends on the bioactive compounds. Based on these results, the green synthesis nanoparticles have the potential to be applied in the industrial sector, especially for photocatalyst applications.