Hydrothermal synthesis of Fe3O4/TiO2/g-C3N4: Advanced photocatalytic application

In the current study a ternary Fe3O4/TiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposite as a photocatalyst was prepared by a novel, facile and in-situ growth mechanism based on hydrothermal route using melamine, tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) and as-prepared magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The experimental results indicate the gradual increase in performance based on step-by-step coupling of anatase TiO2 and magnetic Fe3O4 over the g-C3N4 framework at 200 degrees C calcination temperature. A variety of characterization methods were deployed to explore the morphological, crystalline, vibrational, optical and compositional characteristics of the ternary Fe3O4/TiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposite. Furthermore, the photocatalytic efficiency of the composite was investigated through the discoloration of Rhodamine B (RhB) and Methylene orange (MO) under visible-light illumination. The as-prepared composite achieved an RhB and MO degradation rate of about 96.4% and 90% in 80 min and 120 min, respectively, under the visible-light. The pseudo-first rate constants for RhB and MO degradation on ternary Fe3O4/TiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposite were 0.0441 min(-1) and 0.0186 min(-1), 3.73 and 2.74 times of that for bare g-C3N4. The ternary Fe3O4/TiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposite revealed good photocatalytic performance after 4 cycles illustrating the high photocatalyst durability, and is very likely advantageous for treating biorecalcitrant pollutants in waste water.