Preparation of magnetic composite based on zinc oxide nanoparticles and chitosan as a photocatalyst for removal of reactive blue 198

In this study a novel magnetic composite used as a photocatalyst with combination of zinc oxide nanoparticles and chitosan (ZnO/Fe3O4/CS) was synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method. The role of the prepared magnetic nanocomposite is to improve the removal efficiency of textile dye due to the photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide nanoparticles and reusable capacity of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles. Constituents and structure properties of ZnO/Fe3O4/CS were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Magnetic property of the prepared composite was determined by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results demonstrated that ZnO/Fe3O4/CS nanocomposite dramatically improved the removal efficiency of reactive blue 198 dye (RB198) with high photocatalytic activity and easy separation by a permanent magnet. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of the prepared composite was also performed under different parameters such as contact time, initial pH, the amount of composite and initial concentration of RB198. Interestingly, ZnO/Fe3O4/CS nanocomposite still showed high removal efficiency after recycling three times and performed in a real textile dyeing wastewater.