Synthesis and photocatalytic activity of a lanthanum doped CoFe2O4/TiO2 nanocomposite for photodegradation of methylene blue organic dye

Abstract

In this study, a 0.2CoFe2O4/0.8TiO2-5%La nanocomposite was synthesized by a co-precipitation and a hydrothermal method and then was applied as a high activity photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation. The 0.2CoFe2O4/0.8TiO2-5%La material was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, scanning electron microscope/transmission electron microscope and UV-Vis techniques. The photocatalytic activity of the material was initially investigated through the decomposition of methylene blue. The synthetic 0.2 CoFe2O4/0.8 TiO2-5% La showed excellent photocatalytic activity for degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation. Methylene blue could be degraded by more than 99.14% after only 50 min.