Study on Photocatalytic Degradation of Acid Red 73 by Fe3O4@TiO2 Exposed (001) Facets

Abstract

Water pollution can be treated through the photocatalytic reaction of TiO2 or TiO2 compounds. A solvothermal method was used to prepare Fe3O4 and Fe3O4@TiO2 composite photocatalyst with (001) high-energy facets exposed in the anatase phase. TiO2 and Fe3O4@TiO2 were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. It was found that the composite Fe3O4@TiO2 can reduce the band gap and maintain a certain proportion of (001) high-energy facet exposure. The band gaps of Fe3O4@TiO2 and TiO2 are 2.5 eV and 2.9 eV, respectively. The exposure percentages of (001) facets of Fe3O4@TiO2 and TiO2 are about 25.2% and 12.1%, respectively. Fe3O4@TiO2 was used for photocatalytic degradation of Acid Red 73, and it was found that Fe3O4@TiO2 could improve the efficiency of photocatalytic degradation of Acid Red 73. The photocatalytic degradation rates of Fe3O4@TiO2 and TiO2 at 24 min were 93.56% and 74.47%, respectively. The cycle experiment of photocatalytic degradation of Acid Red 73 by Fe3O4@TiO2 showed that at the fifth cycle, the rate of dye degradation decreased to 77.05%, but the rate of dye degradation can reach more than 90% after self-cleaning treatment. The photocatalytic degradation mechanism is explained by the energy band theory and the first-order kinetic equation model.