Magnetic TiO2/SiO2/NiFe204 composite photocatalytic particles with high crystalline TiO2 shell were synthesized via a mild solution route. The prepared composite particles were characterized with X-ray diffraction(XRD), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), ultraviolet-visible(UV-Vis) spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer(VSM). The results show that the obtained TiO2/SiO2/NiFe2O4 composite particles were composed of spherical nanoparticles, about 30 nm in diameter, with several NiFe/O4 fine particles about 20 nm in diameter as cores and silica as coatings and barrier layers between the magnetic cores and titania shells. The photocatalytic activity of the composite photocatalytic particles was also investigated for the degradation of Basic Violet 5BN(BV5) under UV irradiation. About 97% of original BV5 decomposed in 360 min in the presence of magnetic composite nanoparticles under UV light. The synthesized magnetic composite nanoparticles exhibited high photocatalytic efficiency that would find potential application to cleaning polluted water with the help of magnetic separation.
Composite photocatalysts with TiO2 porous shell and magnetic core were synthesized by using NiFe2O4 as a magnetic core, SiO2 as an intermediate layer and polyethylene glycol with molecular weight of 1000 (PEG 1000) as a template direction agent. The samples were characterized with N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. The results showed that the obtained composites are spherical particles about 50 nm in diameter. The mesoporous TiO2 with magnetic core calcined at 350 ℃, 450 ℃, and 550 ℃ was found to have, respectively, different specific surface areas (94, 86, and 68 m^2/g) and average pore sizes (1.4, 2.2, and 2.8 nm). The photocatalytic activity was investigated for degradation of nitrobenzene under UV irradiation. Nitrobenzene was decomposed in 300 min under irradiation of an 8 W UV lamp with a peak wavelength of 253.7 nm. The composite nanoparticles exhibited high photocatalytic efficiency and super paramagnetic nature for cleaning polluted water by magnetic separation.