A facile general route for ternary Fe2O3@TiO2@nanometal (Au, Ag) composite as a high-performance and recyclable photocatalyst

Abstract

A modified sol-gel reaction of alkoxy-terminated magnetite (Fe3O4) with titanium alkoxide afforded core-shell nanostructure with titania capsule. Ambient-air calcination of core-shell nanostructure resulted in the formation of Fe2O3@TiO2 with photocatalytic activity, the degree of which depended on the calcination temperature (500-800 degrees C). The Fe2O3@TiO2 (700 degrees C) with higher oxygen vacancies exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity than that of Fe2O3@TiO2 (500 degrees C) with fair magnetism, despite its lower surface area. Au nanometal deposition enhanced the photocatalytic activity of recyclable Fe2O3@TiO2 (500 degrees C) due to the increased charge separation, whereas Ag nanometal deposition induced the slight increase in the photocatalytic activity of Fe2O3@TiO2@Ag. (C) 2016 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.