TITLE:
Photodegradation of Binary Azo Dyes Using Core-Shell Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 Nanospheres
AUTHORS:
Eman Alzahrani
KEYWORDS:
Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 Nanospheres, Core-Shell, Magnetic Photocatalyst, Sol-Gel Method, Binary Azo Dyes, Photodegradation
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Analytical Chemistry,
Vol.8 No.1,
January
19,
2017
ABSTRACT: Photodegradation has emerged as an environmentally friendly method of decomposing harmful dyes in wastewater. In this study, core-shell Fe3O4/SiO2/ TiO2 nanospheres with magnetic cores were obtained from synthesised magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles through the precipitation method, the surface of the magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles was coated with a silica (SiO2) layer by hydrolysis of tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) as a silica source, and finally, Fe3O4/SiO2 nanospheres were coated with titanium (TiO2) layer using tetrabutyltitanate (TBT) as a precursor through the sol-gel process. The morphology and structure of the prepared materials were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry (EDAX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The photocatalytic activities of the prepared core-shell nanospheres were studied using binary azo dyes, namely methyl orange (anionic dye, MO) and methylene blue (cationic dye, MB) in aqueous solution under UV light irradiation (365 nm), and UV-Vis spectrophotometer was utilised to monitor the amount of each dye in the mixture. It was found that 90.2% and 100% of binary MO and MB were removed for 5 h, respectively. The results revealed that the efficiency of the photocatalytic degradation of the core-shell nanospheres was not degreased after five runs that can be used as recyclable photocatalysts. The results show that the performance of the prepared core-shell nanospheres was better than that of commercial TiO2 nanoparticles. Moreover, the magnetic separation properties of the core-shell Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 nanospheres can enable the prepared materials to have wider application prospects.