Core shell Fe3O4@TiO2/silica aerogel nanocomposite; synthesis and study of structural, magnetic and photocatalytic properties

In this work, magnetic Fe3O4@TiO2 nanospheres supported by a mesoporous silica aerogel substrate were synthesized using simple combining procedure of sol-gel and ultrasound assisted reflux technique for photocatalytic activity. The characteristics study of the as-synthesized ternary nanocomposite showed highly dispersion and covering of the Fe3O4@TiO2 nanoparticles on the silica aerogel. The hydrophobic porous silica aerogel was prepared using industrial diatomite earth (DE) as a silica source by a sol-gel procedure under ambient pressure drying. The specifications results of the resulting silica aerogel revealed a fine particulate morphology with an average size of 26 nm, a low density of about 0.85 g/cm3 and a good degree of porosity with a BET surface area of 572 m2/g. In addition, the structural and morphological studies of the prepared Fe3O4@TiO2 also represented the formation of a pure Fe3O4@TiO2 phase with a core shell spherical morphology and an average particle size of 22 nm. The introduction of the Fe3O4@TiO2 on the silica aerogel nanoparticles led to increase the particle size to 38 nm and decrease of BET surface area to 347 m2/g confirming the formation of Fe3O4@TiO2/silica aerogel nanocomposite. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared ternary nanocomposite was also studied for the removal of tetracycline (TC) as an organic pollutant from water under visible light in details.