Abstract
Magnetically recyclable C-doped TiO2/Fe3O4 (C-TiO2/Fe3O4) nanocomposite was successfully synthesized via a sol–gel method. The synthesized samples were characterized using SEM, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), FTIR, and UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) techniques. The results clearly showed that a C-TiO2/Fe3O4 nanocomposite was produced. The photocatalytic activities of the prepared pristine (TiO2), C-doped TiO2 (C-TiO2) and C-TiO2/Fe3O4 were evaluated by the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) under natural sunlight. The effect of catalyst loading and MO concentration were studied and optimized. The C-TiO2/Fe3O4 nanocomposite exhibited an excellent photocatalytic activity (99.68%) that was higher than the TiO2 (55.41%) and C-TiO2 (70%) photocatalysts within 150 min. The magnetic nanocomposite could be easily recovered from the treated solution by applying external magnetic field. The C-TiO2/Fe3O4 composite showed excellent photocatalytic performance for four consecutive photocatalytic reactions. Thus, this work could provide a simple method for the mass production of highly photoactive and stable C-TiO2/Fe3O4 photocatalyst for environmental remediation.
Highlights
TiO2-based photocatalysts have been used in several applications, such as antimicrobial activity [1], water splitting [2], hydrogen production [3], carbon dioxide reduction [4], organic pollutant degradation [5–8], solar cells [9–11], batteries [12], and super capacitors [13,14]
Such a difference can be attributed to the loading of C-doped TiO2 (C-TiO2) on Fe3O4
For the C-TiO2 sample, the peaks were associated with C, Ti, and O elements (Figure 3b)
Summary
TiO2-based photocatalysts have been used in several applications, such as antimicrobial activity [1], water splitting [2], hydrogen production [3], carbon dioxide reduction [4], organic pollutant degradation [5–8], solar cells [9–11], batteries [12], and super capacitors [13,14]. C-TiO2 photocatalyst was synthesized by mixing a stoichiometric amount of precursor and the desired amount of powdered glucose (99%) (i.e., C:Ti mole ratio of 1:6) [38]. These mixtures were transported to muffle furnace and calcinated at 300 ◦C for 5 h. C-TiO2 photocatalysts were collected and kept for the steps. The obtained Fe3O4 precipitate was washed with distilled water and ethanol numerous times until the pH value reached 7. C-TiO2/Fe3O4 composite was synthesized using facile thermal sol–gel method. The precipitates were recovered by magnetic separation and washed with ethanol and deionized water until the pH value reached 7. The prepared C-TiO2/Fe3O4 composite was calcined at 450 ◦C for 3 h
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