Influence of semiconductor/insulator/semiconductor structure on the photo-catalytic activity of Fe3O4/SiO2/polythiophene core/shell submicron composite

Fan Zhang, Yuanji Shi, Zongshan Zhao, Weijie Song, Yang Cheng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

The Fe3O4/SiO2/polythiophene (FSP) submicron composite (SC) with a structure of semiconductor/insulator/semiconductor (SIS) was obtained. The characterization results showed that the FSP SC had a spherical core/shell shape with an average diameter of 506nm. The high saturated magnetization value (~39emu/g) ensured the easy separation of FSP SC from aqueous solution. The photo-catalytic activity of the FSP SC was evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under UV-irradiation in the presence of H2O2. Due to the SIS structure, the degradation rate constant by FSP SC (0.02177min-1) was 6.4, 1.6, and 2.5 times higher than that of Fe3O4/polythiophene (FP), polythiophene (P), and TiO2, respectively. The repetition results suggested the good photochemical stability of FSP SC. The mechanism was proposed by investigating the energy band variation of the SIS structure, the transfer of light generated carriers and the formation of effective hydroxyl radicals in the photo-catalysis progress.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)472-478
Number of pages7
JournalApplied Catalysis B: Environmental
Volume150-151
DOIs
StatePublished - May 5 2014

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was financially supported by the Youth Science and Technology Innovation Fund of College of Science , Nanjing Agricultural University , the Youth Fund of Nanjing Agricultural University and the Youth Fund of Jiangsu Province .

Keywords

  • Core/shell
  • Magnetic recovery
  • Photocatalytic activity
  • SIS structure
  • Submicron composite

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