Invited paperThe influence of MCM-41 mesoporous shell in photocatalytic activity of magnetic core-shell

- MCM-41 shell was located on Fe3O4 core by hydrothermal method.
- CuO clusters was coated in Fe3O4@MCM-41core-shell by post-synthesis method.
- The photodegradtion of dye in presence and absence of H2O2 was 75 and 70%, respectively.
- The Fe3O4@MCM-41 core-shell reduced recombination of electro-hole in CuO.

A novel Fe3O4@MCM-41/CuO core-shell photocatalyst was successfully fabricated by hydrothermal and precipitation methods over Fe3O4 core, followed by light reduction. The obtained nanocomposites were characterized by various measurements and the photocatalytic performances of the as-prepared core-shell were assessed by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible-light illumination. The photocatalyst exhibits higher and wider absorption in the visible region than the pure Fe3O4 and it displays superior performance in the degradation of MB. The highest efficiency of Fe3O4@MCM-41/CuO photocatalyst to degrade MB in presence and absence of H2O2 was 75 and 70% at 60 min, respectively. On the basis of the obtained experimental results, the probable photocatalytic mechanism of the enhanced activity is discussed. The degradation of MB is not only influenced by active groups, but also the interaction of MCM-41 and Fe3O4 decreased the recombination of electron-hole pairs in CuO semiconductor due to transferring electron from mesoporous cavity of MCM-41 to iron ions in Fe3O4 core.

193