Photoelectric activity evaluation of surface-loaded ferroferric oxide/titanium dioxide composite prepared from ilmenite

Abstract

This work demonstrates a surface-loaded Fe3O4/TiO2 composite with the magnetic Fe3O4 deposited on the surface of anatase TiO2 nanocrystal which can be directly prepared from the ilmenite using the coprecipitation method. After the acidolysis treatment with the 95% dissolution rate, the ilmenite will be first transformed into H2TiO3 and FeCl2, and the photoactive anatase TiO2 nanocrystals are obtained from the calcined H2TiO3 at 500[Formula: see text]C. Then a surface-loaded Fe3O4/TiO2 composite TF is finally achieved by the coprecipitation method, which is carefully elaborated to balance the magnetism and photoactivity of Fe3O4/TiO2 composite by the optimal contents of Fe3O4 and TiO2. It is encouraging to note that Fe3O4/TiO2 composite TF shows a good comprehensive performance in serial photodegradation experiments of Rhodamine B. The degradation rate of Rhodamine B is more than 99% during 60 min under the irradiation of both xenon lamp and sunlight. During at least six cycles, the composite TF can show stable photocatalytic activity and good durability together with the recovery and recycling potentials by using an external magnet.