Production, characterization of Fe3O4@CuO composite photocatalysts and determination of photocatalytic activity on Rhodamine B

Abstract

In this study, the hydrothermal method was used to synthesize the Fe3O4 particles and the Fe3O4@CuO composite photocatalyst. The XRD, SEM-EDS, UV-Vis, and VSM analyzes were used for the characterization of the synthesized particles and composites. The photocatalysts were determined to show typical Fe3O4 and CuO properties by XRD analysis which were used to determine the crystal structure of photocatalyst. The SEM analysis was used to investigate the surface morphology of photocatalysts and it was determined that the photocatalysts completed their spherical formation and showed a homogeneous distribution. In addition, the presences of Fe, Cu, and O elements were determined by EDS analysis. The band gap energies of Fe3O4 and Fe3O4@CuO with UV-Vis measurements were found to be 1.3 and 1.6 eV, respectively. The results of VSM analysis revealed that the Fe3O4 and Fe3O4@CuO photocatalysts showed approximately the superparamagnetic properties. The degradation of Rhodamine B dye on the photocatalysts was investigated in determining the photocatalytic activities of photocatalysts. The Fe3O4@CuO composite photocatalyst showed 76% of dye decomposition.