Synthesis of nano-fibrillated cellulose/magnetite/titanium dioxide (NFC@Fe3O4@TNP) nanocomposites and their application in the photocatalytic hydrogen generation

•Nano-fibrillated Cellulose (NFC) are served as efficient supports/carriers for both Fe3O4 NP and TiO2 NP (TNP) for the synthesis of NFC@Fe3O4@TNPphotocatalysts.•Fe3O4 NP can decrease the photo-degradation of NFC, thus improving the recyclability of the prepared photocatalysts.•The photocatalytic efficiency of the photocatalysts was improved significantly due to the presence of both NFC and Fe3O4 NP.•The NFC@Fe3O4@TNP nanocomposites was readily recycled using a magnet, and the catalytic efficiency was largely matintained.

Nano-fibrillated cellulose (NFC), an abundant renewable bio-macromolecule, has received much attention in the research community. The study detailed herein is related to the preparation of photocatalytic nanocomposites consisting of nano-fibrillated cellulose/magnetite/titanium dioxide nanoparticles (NFC@Fe3O4@TNP). The aim of this study is to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of NFC-TNP composites and to improve their recyclability during the photocatalytic hydrogen generation. The NFC@Fe3O4@TNP nanocomposites were characterized by TEM, EDX, SAED, XRD, XPS, FTIR, Raman spectra and VSM techniques. The results showed that Fe3O4 NP and TNP were well-distributed on the surface of NFC. The photocatalytic efficiency study showed that NFC@Fe3O4@TNP nanocomposites represented a higher photocatalytic hydrogen generation rate in comparison with that of NFC-TNP sample. In addition, the NFC@Fe3O4@TNP nanocomposites can be readily recovered from the system using a magnet due to their stable superparamagnetic properties, and they had only a marginal loss of TNP and photocatalytic efficiency after fifteen cycles.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (156KB)Download full-size image