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Magnetic TiO2@Fe3O4/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic activities

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Abstract

Ternary nanocomposite of TiO2@Fe3O4/reduced graphene oxide hydrogel was prepared as an effective and recyclable photocatalyst to degrade methylene blue dye. Preliminary synthesized Fe3O4 colloidal solution and in-situ synthesized TiO2 (or commercial P25) nanoparticles with different ratios were anchored on the surface of reduced graphene oxide by hydrothermal method. The composite photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, Raman, SEM, TEM, XPS, BET, and TG. The studies indicated in-situ synthesized TiO2 ternary composite displayed higher adsorption and photocatalytic activity than pure P25 and its composite. According to the obtained data, the TFG-2 catalyst with a high specific surface area of 302.28 m2g−1 showed the best degradability, achieving almost 100% elimination efficiency of MB (50 mg/L) within 80 min at neutral condition under simulated solar irradiation. Moreover, benefiting from the superparamagnetism of Fe3O4, the composites can be easily recycled and reapplied without significant activity loss after five degradation cycles. The results displayed that the degradation ability was attributed to the synergetic effect between three components. The adsorption and photocatalytic properties of TiO2@Fe3O4/RGO nanocomposites confirmed the promising dual-purpose application in wastewater treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Fengling Zhang, Xiangxin Xue & He Yang

  2. National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth Materials, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals and Grirem Advanced Materials Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100088, China

    Xiaowei Huang

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  1. Fengling Zhang
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  2. Xiangxin Xue
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Correspondence to Xiangxin Xue.

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Zhang, F., Xue, X., Huang, X. et al. Magnetic TiO2@Fe3O4/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic activities. MRS Communications 11, 443–450 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-021-00052-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-021-00052-w

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