Hollow cobalt ferrite–polyaniline nanofibers as magnetically separable visible-light photocatalyst for photodegradation of methyl orange

• The hollow CoFe2O4–PANI nanofibers facilitate the optical properties by easily capturing visible light.
• Core–shell mesoporous structure in the CoFe2O4–PANI is efficient in photocatalysis.
• The recovery ratio is the same after three cycles under visible light irradiation for hollow CoFe2O4–PANI nanofibers.

Hollow cobalt ferrite–polyaniline nanofibers (CoFe2O4–PANI) functioning as a photocatalyst were prepared by using electrospinning technique, followed by calcination and in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization. The hollow CoFe2O4–PANI nanofibers with one dimensional (1D) structure provide well-developed mesoporous structure and enhanced electrical conductivity. The hollow CoFe2O4–PANI nanofibers consisted of hollow core-double shell nanostructure, which has CoFe2O4 as inner shell and PANI as outer shell. The hollow CoFe2O4–PANI nanofibers coated with PANI nanograins facilitate the optical properties by easily capturing visible light. The intensive visible light absorption and effective charge separation lead to a remarkable improvement of visible light photocatalysis owing to the heterojunction built between CoFe2O4 and PANI. The pseudo-first-order kinetic constant of photocatalytic degradation of the methyl orange (MO) dye under visible light irradiation with CoFe2O4–PANI was 80 times greater than CoFe2O4. This evidence shows the advantage of the unique core–shell mesoporous structure in the CoFe2O4–PANI for efficient photocatalysis. The recovery ratio is almost the same after three cycles under visible light irradiation, displaying the excellent characteristics of magnetic separation for CoFe2O4–PANI hollow nanofibers.

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