Synthesis of Fe3O4 nanowire@CeO2/Ag nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic activity under sunlight exposure

Ternary magnetic Fe3O4 nanowire@CeO2/Ag nanocomposites have been firstly synthesized by means of hydrothermal and co–precipitation techniques, and their ability to adsorb, photocatalytic degradation organic pollutants, methylene blue present in water, and separate, has been demonstrated. The results show that CeO2 and Ag nanoparticles are uniformly deposited on the surface of Fe3O4 nanowires. The photocatalytic experiments demonstrate that the Fe3O4@CeO2/Ag nanocomposites exhibit remarkably enhanced photocatalytic properties and stability compared to CeO2, CeO2/Ag, Fe3O4@CeO2, Fe3O4 under natural sunlight exposure. Moreover, excellent photocatalytic degradation efficiency for phenol and MO are also observed. The enhanced photocatalytic performance may be attributed to the synergetic effect of Fe3O4 nanowire, CeO2 and Ag nanoparticles, which lead to the enhanced light harvesting, the promoted charge separation and enhanced adsorption capacity. In addition, the Fe3O4@CeO2/Ag photocatalyst can be easily collected and separated by an external magnet. These results suggest that the nanocomposites could be exploited as potential candidates for solar photocatalysis.