Issue 31, 2017

Synthesis of magnetic core–shell Fe3O4@TiO2 nanoparticles from electric arc furnace dust for photocatalytic degradation of steel mill wastewater

Abstract

The study was undertaken to design magnetic core–shell Fe3O4@TiO2 nanoparticles from electric arc furnace dust and evaluate its photocatalytic activity on organic pollutant degradation from steel industry wastewater. Different molar ratios of Fe3O4 to TiO2 were tested on Fe3O4@TiO2 nanoparticles. The materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, and a zeta potential analyzer and vibrating sample magnetometer. The behavior of Fe3O4@TiO2 nanoparticles under different molar ratios of Fe3O4 to TiO2, pH, photocatalyst dose and temperature was investigated. The apparent rate constant of organic pollutant degradation using Fe3O4@TiO2 was found to be pH dependent as it influenced the surface properties and therefore the photocatalytic activity of Fe3O4@TiO2, which was higher under acidic condition. The degradation of organic pollutants was as high as 96% at pH 3, 1 g L−1 photocatalyst dose, 30 °C temperature, after 90 min reaction time, and the apparent rate constant was 0.043 min−1. The thermodynamic parameters of activation, estimated by the Eyring equation and based on transition state theory (TST), indicated a nonspontaneous process in nature with positive ΔGo values, an endothermic reaction with positive ΔHo and negative ΔSo values. High degradation rate and catalyst recovery were maintained after five consecutive recycling cycles.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis of magnetic core–shell Fe3O4@TiO2 nanoparticles from electric arc furnace dust for photocatalytic degradation of steel mill wastewater

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 jan 2017
Accepted
27 mar 2017
First published
31 mar 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 19391-19405

Synthesis of magnetic core–shell Fe3O4@TiO2 nanoparticles from electric arc furnace dust for photocatalytic degradation of steel mill wastewater

S. Salamat, H. Younesi and N. Bahramifar, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 19391 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA01238A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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