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 γ-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 γ-Fe2O3@SiO2@TiO2, the Ag-doped composite was more active in terms of photocatalytic characteristics. By applying γ-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 γ-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 γ-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. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.