A COST-EFFECTIVE MAGNETIC PHOTOCATALYST PALYGORSKITE–TiO2–FexOy WITH EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE FOR DYE PHOTODEGRADATION UNDER VISIBLE LIGHT
Palygorskite (denoted as Pal) was used as an economical carrier of hybrid photocatalyst TiO 2– Fe x O yvia an in situ depositing technique (marked as Pal– TiO 2– Fe x O y). The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), brunner-emmet-teller (BET) measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra measurements. Results showed that TiO 2– Fe x O y composite particles with average size of about 10 nm were loaded onto the Pal fibers' surface. Fe x O y acted not only as magnetic source but also took part in the formation of TiO 2– Fe x O y heterojunction structure, which resulted in the obvious absorption in visible light region for the obtained Pal– TiO 2– Fe x O y composite photocatalyst. The obtained Pal– TiO 2– Fe x O y shows excellent photocatalytic activity toward photodegradation of Methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation and the degradation ratio reached 94% within 180 min. Moreover, Pal– TiO 2– Fe x O y could be readily recovered from the reaction solution by the magnet. Possible mechanism for the enhancement was also proposed.