Open AccessPhotocatalytic activity enhanced by photo-thermal conversion with recyclable hollow Fe3O4@TiO2 nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Lei Shi,
Yurong He
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/556/1/012030
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , nanoparticle , materials science , rhodamine b , solar energy , chemical engineering , catalysis , nanotechnology , thermal treatment , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , ecology , engineering , biology
Photocatalytic nanoparticles have been applied in the utilisation of solar energy because of their excellent harvesting of solar energy for wastewater treatment and chemical synthesis. In particular, TiO 2 nanoparticles exhibit unique photo-catalytic performance due to their high specific surface areas and distinctive optical properties. However, the presence of nanoparticles in solar energy systems can cause secondary pollution and severely limit large-scale application of the nanoparticles in solar technology. In the present work, recoverable hollow Fe 3 O 4 @TiO 2 nanoparticles were synthesized via a modified hydrothermal method. The prepared nanoparticles exhibit superior photocatalytic activity for degrading organic pollutants (Rhodamine B), which is 33.1% higher than that of P25, and the effect of photo-thermal conversion in enhancing the photo-catalytic activity of this nanoparticles was studied, which has not been investigated in most of previous reports. This study not only reveals that photo-thermal conversion plays an important role in enhancing photocatalytic activity, but also provides an approach to significantly reduce material consumption in the design of solar devices and facilitate the efficient utilization of solar energy applications.