Emerging trends of ferrite-based nanomaterials as photocatalysts for environmental remediation: A review and synthetic perspective

Efficient wastewater treatment processes are in high demand for removing organic and inorganic pollutants. Photocatalysis, as an environmentally friendly technology, has shown significant progress in the treatment of contaminated wastewater. This review explores the potential of spinel ferrite-based nanomaterials as efficient photocatalysts for wastewater treatment. To enhance their properties, ferrites have been combined with advanced materials, such as BiOX, MXene, and g-C₃N₄ to form binary and ternary nanocomposites. We highlight the state-of-the-art in these binary and ternary spinel ferrite nanocomposites in the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. These ferrite nanocomposites showed superior photocatalytic performance due to enhanced properties such as increasing the capacity for light utilization, slowing electron-hole recombination, and reducing agglomeration. Furthermore, our review explores recent research on template-assisted synthesis, a novel approach for fine-tuning the morphology of spinel ferrites and enhancing their catalytic efficiency. The impact of both the soft and hard templates on the properties of the produced ferrite nanomaterials is discussed. Overall, this unique combination of advanced nanocomposite materials and structural control using template-assisted approaches paves the way for a new generation of highly efficient photocatalysts. Thus, we provide a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the development of ferrite nanocomposites, underlining their potential as photocatalysts for environmental remediation applications.