Preparation of Fe3O4@SiO2@BiO1.8•0.04H2O/Ag3PO4 magnetic nanocomposite and its photocatalytic performance

Fe3O4@SiO2@BiO1.8 center dot 0.04H(2)O/Ag3PO4 (FSBAP) magnetic nanocomposite was prepared and its photocatalytic performance was also investigated with Rhodamine B (RhB) as a simulated substrate. The nanocomposite was characterized using XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, UV-Vis DRS, FTIR, and so on. The bandgap energy (E-g) was 2.15 eV which demonstrated that the nanocomposite had photocatalytic performance under the visible light. The degradation rate of 250 mL RhB solution (10 mg/L) was 93% with 1.00 g/L FSBAP catalyst under the visible light for 2 h. The magnetic nanocomposite can be easily separated from the solution using a permanent magnet. FSBAP nanocomposite showed the better reusability and the degradation rates achieved 79% after 5 runs. In addition, trapping experiment demonstrated that h(+) played a principal part in photocatalytic reaction. Detailed mechanism was also discussed in terms of trapping experiment and bandgap energy theory. The work suggested that the magnetic nanophotocatalyst FSBAP could be a more efficient photocatalyst under visible light.