Preparation of Ag2O/g-C3N4/Fe3O4 composites and the application in the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B under visible light

The novel, stable, and environmentally friendly Ag 2 O/g-C 3 N 4 /Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites were firstly synthesized with a combination of calcination and co-precipitation methods. The material was characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The nanocomposites were applied in the photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light. The effects of the catalyst component ratio, catalyst dosage, solution pH, RhB concentration and catalyst reusability on the degradation were explored. 10 mg/L RhB can be degraded by 98.3% after 60 min under 500 W of visible light. In addition, the photodegradation kinetics and the possible reaction mechanism were investigated.