A new nanocomposite material ZnFe2O4/TiO2 is prepared by a colloid chemistr
y method and characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission
electron microscopy. The corresponding photocatalytic activity in the mine
ralization of phenol is evaluated in comparison with pure ZnFe2O4 and TiO2
nanomaterials. From XRD measurements, it is found that when annealed at rel
atively low temperature, ZnFe2O4 and TiO2 crystallite phases in the composi
te separate from each other, and when annealed at high temperature a solid
reaction between ZnFe2O4 and TiO2 takes place. In addition, it is observed
that the ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles seem to play a role in inhibiting the anatas
e-to-rutile phase transformation of TiO2. According to the phenol degradati
on, the ZnFe2O4/TiO2 nanocomposite is more effective as a photocatalyst tha
n pure TiO2, showing that the nanocomposite approach could be an excellent
choice to improve the photoactivity of TiO2.