Synthesis and evaluations of Fe3O4–TiO2–Ag nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP): effect of Ag and Fe compositions

Authors

• Amir Shojaie ¹
• Moslem Fattahi ¹
• Sahand Jorfi ²
• Bahram Ghasemi ¹

1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Abadan Faculty of Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Abadan, Iran
2. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

This work reports the synthesis of nanocomposites of Fe₃O₄–TiO₂–Ag with different weight concentrations of iron (Fe) and silver (Ag) doped on TiO₂. The nanocomposites were prepared by a novel and facile ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal method, and their effectiveness was evaluated for photocatalytic degradation. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and N₂ adsorption–desorption methods were performed to characterize the prepared catalysts. The photocatalytic activity of Fe₃O₄–TiO₂–Ag was studied by illumination of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) in an aqueous solution under UV irradiation, which showed significant enhancement in the degradation of 4-CP compared to un-doped nano TiO₂. The maximum degradation of 97% in 165 min for Fe³⁺ and Ag⁺ with 0.3 and 2% wt. was observed. Furthermore, the stability and reusability of the synthesized catalysts were studied and demonstrated only 3% decrease in removal efficiency after five cycles.

Keywords

• Hydrothermal synthesis
• Photocatalytic Degradation
• UV irradiation
• 4-Chlorophenol
• Ag doped TiO2