Synthesis and evaluations of Fe3O4–TiO2–Ag nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradation of 4‑chlorophenol (4‑CP): effect of Ag and Fe compositions

This work reports the synthesis of nanocomposites of Fe3O4– TiO2–Ag with different weight concentrations of iron (Fe) and silver (Ag) doped on TiO2. The nanocomposites were prepared by a novel and facile ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal method, and their effectiveness was evaluated for photocatalytic degradation. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and N2 adsorption–desorption methods were performed to characterize the prepared catalysts. The photocatalytic activity of Fe3O4– TiO2–Ag was studied by illumination of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) in an aqueous solution under UV irradiation, which showed significant enhancement in the degradation of 4-CP compared to un-doped nano TiO2. The maximum degradation of 97% in 165 min for Fe^3+ and Ag^+ with 0.3 and 2% wt. was observed. Furthermore, the stability and reusability of the synthesized catalysts were studied and demonstrated only 3% decrease in removal efficiency after five cycles.