Abstract:
Nowadays, water pollution by industrial routed toxic dyes become a major concern. Organic
dyes, which were found in the wastewater of various industries, have a dangerous and toxic
effect on the environment and human beings. Among the different methods used that has been
employed to solve these problems, photocatalytic wastewater treatment using nanocomposite
semiconductor material has become promising. Reducing the recombination capacity of
electron-hole pairs is essential to optimize the photocatalytic process guided by semiconductors.
Nanocomposite materials, including metal oxide nanoparticles/Graphene Oxide with their
advanced physicochemical properties, are common photoactive semiconductor materials that
make them suitable for photocatalysis. In addition, using of an external magnetic field boosted to
up the photocatalytic properties of magnetic nanocomposites and enable to recycle and reuse of
nanocomposites. In this study, CoFe2O4/GO nanocomposite was prepared via the Hydrothermal
method, and the effect of an external magnetic field on the photodegradation of Methylene Blue
(MB) and Congo red (CR) solutions, both at 100 mg/L of concentration, were investigated. The
synthesized nanocomposite was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), UV-vis spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
and showed that the inverted spinel cobalt ferrites was successfully synthesized by the
hydrothermal method. The UV–Vis absorption spectra reveal superior absorption in the high energy region, the Tauk plot suggesting a semiconducting nature of the as synthesized
CoFe2O4/GO nanocomposite. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized nanocomposites with
and without external magnetic field was tested in the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and
Congo red (CR) solutions, both at 100 mg/L of concentration, as a model of water pollutants.
Using a CoFe2O4/GO nanocomposite, photocatalytic degradation efficiencies of 83% and 66%
for MB and CR, respectively, were attained, after 90 min irradiation of 18W light. Furthermore,
external magnetic field was used to study the activity of the photocatalyst. When exposed to an
external magnetic field and light for 90 minutes, the CoFe2O4/GO nanocomposites significantly
increased the activity of MB (88%) and CR (76%) degradation. Thus, the CoFe2O4/GO
nanocomposite exposed to external magnetic field has the potential to be an efficient adaptable.
