Synthesis of Bentonite-Supported Fe2O3-Doped TiO2 superstructures for highly promoted photocatalytic activity and recyclability

Abstract

A magnetic recyclable Bentonite-Supported Fe2O3-Doped TiO2 (Fe2O3-B-TiO2) photocatalyst with high visible light photocatalytic activity was synthesized by a facile sol-gel method. The samples thus synthesized were characterized by multiple techniques, including the scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, vibrating sample magnetometer, electron paramagnetic resonance and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The results confirmed the magnetic Fe2O3-B-TiO2 photocatalysts were synthesized successfully. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of methyl blue (MB) under the irradiation of visible light. The Fe2O3-B-TiO2 exhibited the best photocatalytic activity among all the samples. Almost all of the MB was degraded by Fe2O3-B-TiO2 within 120min. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the better optical absorption properties, stronger oxidation ability by hydroxyl radicals as well as the enhanced dispersion of TiO2 nanoparticles. In addition, the newly synthesized Fe2O3-B-TiO2 can be collected by magnetic separation easily and maintained high photocatalytic efficiency for several time reuses. Our findings pave a way to design recyclable Fe2O3-B-TiO2 photocatalysts for photodegradation of organic pollutants in aqueous solution.