Synthesis of magnetic photocatalyst by photochemical deposition and co-precipitation techniques: investigation of its photocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic activity for dye removal

Abstract

In this study, photochemical deposition and co-precipitation methods were used to synthesise Ag/TiO2 and magnetic Ag/TiO2/Fe3O4 photocatalysts, respectively. The physical and chemical properties of the Ag/TiO2 and Ag/TiO2/Fe3O4 photocatalysts were characterised by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) analyses. The synthesised photocatalysts were used to remove Reactive Red 195 (RR195) dye the most commonly used in the textile industry. The photocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic removal was investigated using different light types such as UV-A and visible light. In the optimum conditions (UV-A and visible light intensity 27 W, 25 mg/L initial RR195 concentration, pH 6 ve 0.1 g/L catalyst dose) of photocatalysis, the photodegradation of magnetic Ag/TiO2/Fe3O4 was found 72% at 120 min irradiation of visible light but the degradation was 65% at 30 min irradiation of UV-A light. While in case of the sonophotocatalysis, the degradation of magnetic Ag/TiO2/Fe3O4 was found 85% at 120 min irradiation of visible light but the degradation was 85% at 30 min irradiation of UV-A light.