Fabrication of heterojunction ternary Fe3O4/TiO2/CoMoO4 as a magnetic photocatalyst for organic dyes degradation under sunlight irradiation

Throughout this paper, a novel ternary magnetic nanocomposite Fe3O4/TiO2/CoMoO4 with spherical morphology was prepared by covering the Fe3O4 with TiO2 and CoMoO4 semiconductors. The identification of this ternary magnetic nanocomposite was conducted through the methods such as FT-IR, XPS, VSM, XRD, PL, EIS, FE-SEM, EDX, TEM, DRS, BET and ICP. The p–n heterojunction led to a suitable photocatalyst through reducing the band gap energy, the electron/hole recombination rate and the charge transfer resistance. Also, the Fe3O4/TiO2/CoMoO4 was exploited in the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO), congo red (CR) and Rhodamine B (RhB) using available solar energy converting environmentally friendly products. Moreover, the photocatalyst was distinguished for its good stability, and complete as well as easy recycling capability. In addition, the effective parameters on the dye degradation were optimized in the presence of this magnetic semiconductor. Finally, through the use of different scavengers, an attempt was made to identify the active species promoting the reaction and to suggest a mechanism for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue.