Magnetoswitchable controlled photocatalytic system using ferromagnetic Fe0-doped titania nanorods photocatalysts with enhanced photoactivity

Zero-valent Fe-doped titania nanorods (Fe0/TiNRs) were prepared through a simple in situ reduction route using TiNR as templates which were pre-synthesized by normal alkaline hydrothermal method. The sample was characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The photocatalytic degradation of acetic acid and formaldehyde was investigated under UV light irradiation. The results indicated that the photoactivity of Fe0/TiNR was much higher than that of Degussa TiO2 (P-25). Thus, in this paper a novel magnetoswitchable controlled photocatalytic system (MCPS) was suggested which described a new method for reversibly controlling the photocatalysis process using ferromagnetic Fe0/TiNR powders by means of an external magnet translocation.