Temperature dependence of magnetic property and photocatalytic activity of Fe3O4/hydroxyapatite nanoparticles

Fe3O4/hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanoparticles have been developed as a novel photocatalyst support, based on the embedment of magnetic Fe3O4 particles into HAP shell via homogeneous precipitation method. The resultant nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). These particles were almost spherical in shape, rather monodisperse and have a unique size of about 25 nm in diameter. The effect of calcination temperature on magnetic property and photocatalytic activity of Fe3O4/HAP nanoparticles was investigated in detail. The obtained results showed that the Fe3O4/HAP nanoparticles calcined at 400 °C possessed good magnetism and photocatalytic activity in comparison with that calcined at other temperatures.