Open AccessMagnetised photocatalyst TiO2/Fe3O4 nanocomposite capable to photodegrade organic dye
Author(s) -
Thian Khoon Tan,
Poi Sim Khiew,
Wee Siong Chiu,
Chin Hua Chia
Publication year - 2020
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/744/1/012021
Subject(s) - nanocomposite , materials science , photocatalysis , anatase , tetragonal crystal system , spinel , sintering , doping , crystal structure , crystal (programming language) , aqueous solution , chemical engineering , nuclear chemistry , nanotechnology , composite material , crystallography , metallurgy , organic chemistry , chemistry , optoelectronics , engineering , computer science , programming language , catalysis
In this study, methylene blue (MB) is used as a measure of the photocatalytic capabilities of the prepared TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 photocatalyst nanocomposite. The nanocomposite was suspended in the dye aqueous solutions placed in a UV chamber under UV-C (254 nm) light irradiation. The TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposite was characterised by XRD, FESEM, TEM and EDX analysis. The TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposite crystal structure retained TiO 2 pure anatase of tetragonal crystal structure (SG: I 4/ a md ) and Fe 3 O 4 cubic spinel crystal structure with average crystalline size of (62.1 ± 5.7) nm. The optimum performance of the magnetic nanocomposite was monitored through few categories, such as concentration of photocatalyst, doping amount of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticle into the nanocomposite and sintering temperature. The TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposite optimum loading was detected at 3.0 wt%. The nanocomposite performed well at 1 wt% of Fe 3 O 4 doping and 350 °C of sintering temperature. The reliability of the TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposite was also conducted where it was successfully repeated for at least 3 times with no obvious changes observed in the degradation efficiency.