Recyclable Ag-coated Fe3O4@TiO2 for efficient photocatalytic oxidation of chlorophenol

In this study, a facile and efficient approach for fabricating Ag-coated Fe3O4@TiO2 particles with a good core–shell structure is demonstrated. The synthetic protocol involves coating successive layers of TiO2 nanoparticles onto a magnetic core using a sol-gel method at low temperature, followed by the deposition of silver nanoparticles on the surface of the Fe3O4@TiO2 particles through chemical reduction. The Ag-coated Fe3O4@TiO2 magnetic photocatalyst exhibited high photocatalytic activity in the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible light. Moreover, the Ag-coated Fe3O4@TiO2 photocatalyst showed enhanced photocatalytic properties when compared with a previous report concerning the oxidation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol in aqueous solution. The renewable photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst was also examined.