Photocatalytic activity of magnetically separable La-doped TiO2/CoFe2O4 nanofibers prepared by two-spinneret electrospinning

Abstract

A novel magnetically separable composite photocatalyst—hLa-doped TiO2i/CoFe2O4 nanofiber—was prepared by a two-spinneret electrospinning method com- bined with sol-gel method. The nanofibers were charac- terized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). It was shown that the diameter of h1.0% La-doped TiO2i/CoFe2O4 nanofibers was 100-150 nm after calcination at 600 C for 2 h. EDS and XPS measurements on the photocatalytic material indicated the existence of La 3? oxidation states in h1.0% La-doped TiO2i/CoFe2O4 nanofibers. The photocatalytic activity of as-prepared nanofibers was evaluated using methylene blue (MB) as a model organic compound and the result revealed that the h1.0% La-doped TiO2i/CoFe2O4 nanofibers have an efficient photocatalytic property, and the degradation rate of MB could reach 93% in 150 min. Moreover, the magnetic property of the nanofibers has also been characterized, and the nanofibers show a good mag- netic response, which indicates that the possibility of the magnetic nanofibers' potential recycling property.