Synthesis, Characterization and Visible Light Photocatalytic of Fe3O4/CuO/TiO2/Ag Nanocomposites

Abstract

The sol-gel method was used to synthesize Fe3O4/CuO/TiO2/Ag visible light photocatalyst. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy were used to characterize the photocatalyst. From the UV-Vis absorption spectra, we found the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to be around ∼440 nm. The results indicate that the nanocomposites contained a combination of the desired nanocomposites. Their photocatalytic activity was evaluated from the degradation of methylene blue. The influence on the activity of the Fe3O4/CuO/TiO2/Ag nanocomposites, such as weight percentage of Ag, was also studied. Fe3O4/CuO/TiO2/Ag with 25wt% of Ag exhibited the best photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. The experiment results showed that the main active species in the photodegradation mechanism in methylene blue is holes. Finally, the nanocomposites exhibited good stability after being reused four times in a cycling process.