Synthesis of Cit-Fe₃O₄@TiO₂ photocatalyst for the degradation of eosin-Y and methylene blue dye

The importance of the removal of dye from industrial wastewater is increasing day by day, as they contain substances that are carcinogenic and lethal to human beings. Due to their distinctive chemical and physical properties, nanomaterials have received substantial consideration. This study intended to prepare citrate-modified magnetic nanoparticles coated by titania hydrothermally to increase the photocatalytic activity. To characterize the Cit-Fe₃O₄@TiO₂ nanoparticles various instrumental techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used. The calculated average particle size of Cit-Fe₃O₄ was 13.4 nm while after titania covering particle size was changed to 15.8 nm due to the coating TiO₂ shell over Fe₃O₄ which also has been via TEM analysis. The prepared Cit-Fe₃O₄@TiO₂ nanoparticles were used to degrade eosin Y (EY) under UV–visible lamp irradiation. The experimental outcomes reveal that the 96 % removal efficiency for EY dye in 70 min and 82 % of MB in 90 min. Cit-Fe₃O₄@TiO₂ nanoparticles can be considered reliable photocatalyst as there is a linear relation between the slope of the curve and irradiation time that corresponds to the pseudo-first-order kinetics for both dyes. Furthermore, to eliminate repetitious filtering procedures, Cit-Fe₃O₄@TiO₂ nanoparticles were utilized as an excellent photocatalyst for the degradation of textile dyes.