Synthesis of Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4 </sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>-S Composite and Its Activity Test as Photocatalyst on the Metanil Yellow Degradation

Abstract

The synthesis of sulfur-doped titania magnetite composite and its activity as a photocatalyst in the degradation of metanil yellow have been investigated. The variations of sulfur dopan concentration studied were 1%, 3%, 5%, and 7%. The synthesized Fe3O4/TiO2-S composite was characterized using FTIR, XRD, TEM, SEM-EDX, DR-UV, and VSM. The results showed that the Fe3O4/TiO2-S photocatalyst is visible light responsive with magnetic properties. Sulfur dopan concentrations of 1, 3, 5, and 7 (%) had band gap energies of 2.83, 2.81, 2.76, and 2.84 (eV), respectively. The photodegradation results showed that Fe3O4/TiO2-S 5% composite material could degrade metanil yellow in acidic pH at 180 min under visible light irradiation (73.44). The structural stability was observed after three times of photocatalyst reuse. The degradation kinetics of metanil yellow dye followed the pseudo-second order of Ho and McKay's kinetic model, with K values of 0.52 g mg-1min-1 under visible light. This composite has good photodegradation activity for metanil yellow can be applied under visible light and can be reused after use.