Grafting of silver particles on FeTiO₃/TiO₂/Ag: synthesis and characterization of FeTiO₃/TiO₂ nanoparticles in presence of CTAB and their application as photocatalyst‏

An effective procedure to synthesize of the FeTiO₃/TiO₂/Ag nanocomposites by a combination of sol–gel and photodeposition methods was introduced. The as prepared products were characterized using XRD, SEM, VSM, EDS, DRS, TEM, ICP-OES and IR techniques. The dimensions of catalyst particle size were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Results approved that the final product has nanoscale diameter. On the other hand, studding of magnetic nature by VSM analysis showed superparamagnetic properties for the nanocomposite. XRD pattern indicates that FeTiO₃/TiO₂ was synthesized at 600 °C. The cationic surfactant was used during sol–gel synthesis of FeTiO₃/TiO₂ sample in order to modify the microstructure of the gels. The as synthesized photocatalyst showed good photocatalytic performance in decolorization of various dye aqueous solution. Rhodamine B, methylene blue and methyl orange were used as pollutant model. Results indicated that the maximum photocatalytic activity of the FeTiO₃/TiO₂/Ag nanocomposite was obtained for rhodamine B pollutant under visible light. It was observed that by using of FeTiO₃/TiO₂/Ag nanostructure instead FeTiO₃/TiO₂ nanoparticles the photocatalytic activity for methylene blue from 82 to 89 increased. Also by decreasing of pH from 9 to 5 destruction percentage of methyl orange was increased from 65 to 85.