A simple and effective synthesis of magnetic γ-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2-Ag microspheres as a recyclable photocatalyst: dye degradation and antibacterial potential

Purpose and methods In this study, an effective technique for synthesizing gamma-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2-Ag magnetically separable photocatalyst was introduced by combining co-precipitation, sol-gel, and photo-deposition methods. A series of analyses including FTIR, SEM, EDS, XRD, and VSM were applied to characterize the prepared materials and the investigations on photocatalytic activity of the prepared composites were accomplished. Results Compared to bare gamma-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2, the Ag-doped composite was more active in terms of photocatalytic characteristics. By applying gamma-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2-Ag, the decomposition rate of the Basic blue 41 reached to about 94% after 3 h of UV irradiation; this rate was 63% for pure gamma-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2. The results indicated that the dye degradation kinetics followed first-order kinetic model. During the five cycles of separation, it was observed that the Ag-doped composite was greatly effective and stable in terms of recycling. Moreover, the results indicated that antibacterial activity of gamma-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2-Ag was remarkably stronger than that of pure Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2 particles. Conclusion It was concluded that by modifying magnetic TiO2 by silver nanoparticles, charge separation was eased by catching photo-generated electrons, resulted in an enhanced photo- and biological activity. Graphical abstract