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Herein, a kind of Fe 3 O 4 @C@Ru hybrid nanocomposites was successfully synthesized by a three-step process. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrometry and photoluminescence emission spectrometry. The Ru nanoparticles loaded on the surface of carbon shell on Fe 3 O 4 @C nanospheres were nearly spherical with an average diameter of less than 5 nm. The photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) was carried out under the irradiation of simulated visible light to investigate the catalytic activity of the introduced nanomaterial. The results showed that the catalytic activity of Fe 3 O 4 @C@Ru nanocomposites in the MB photodegradation was higher than that of Fe 3 O 4 nanospheres or of Fe 3 O 4 @C nanospheres, as they could degrade 92.70% of the dye in 140 min of simulated sunlight irradiation without any other oxidant or reductant. The photodegradation reaction was first-order with the rate constant of 0.0176 min−1 at room temperature. The degradation rate of Fe 3 O 4 @C@Ru nanocomposites decreased very slightly after five cycles. Furthermore, they could be easily separated and recycled by using an external magnet. It indicated that the magnetically recoverable Fe 3 O 4 @C@Ru nanocomposites had a very broad application prospect in the field of environmental protection. Unlabelled Image • Fe 3 O 4 @C@Ru nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by a three-step process. • Ru nanoparticles were nearly spherical with an average size of less than 5 nm. • The photocatalytic property of Fe 3 O 4 @C@Ru hybrids was enhanced after combination. • Fe 3 O 4 @C@Ru hybrids can photodegrade methylene blue in visible light. • Fe 3 O 4 @C@Ru nanocomposites were magnetic and recyclable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Highly efficient and magnetic nanophotocatalyst was synthesized. • The synthetic method presented was very simple. • The photocatalytic ability was studied by applying for degradation methylene blue. • The prepared nanophotocatalyst was recyclable. The development of simple and economical preparation of magnetic core-shell heterostructures remains a formidable challenge. This work proposed a novel facile fabrication approach for bifunctional Fe 3 O 4 @TiO 2 core-shell photocatalyst through an in-situ synthesis technique at room temperature. The important performances of as-synthesized photocatalyst were characterized and the synthetic conditions were optimized. The results proved that it exhibited good photocatalytic ability under UV light irradiation since 97.56% of methylene blue (MB) was degraded after 90 min irradiation and kept good degradation efficiency and recovery after 5 cycles, indicating the great potential in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A new highly efficient and magnetic photocatalyst was proposed. • The synthetic method developed was very simple. • It had good photocatalytic ability for MB under simulated sunlight. • The presented photocatalyst was recyclable. Herein, Fe 3 O 4 @Ru-doped TiO 2 photocatalyst was developed successfully by a facile chemical strategy. The sample with 0.2% doping Ru showed the best photocatalytic activity, which could photodegrade 70.20% of methylene blue after 120 min of simulated sunlight exposure, and kept good degradation efficiency and recovery after 5 cycles. It could be attributed that the Ru-doping alleviated the band gap energy to make the electron-hole pairs easier to generate and enhanced the synergistic effect to increase the carrier separation efficiency. The present work provided a development prospect of simple preparation of recoverable photodegradation catalyst for environmental organic pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]