Recyclable silver-decorated magnetic titania nanocomposite with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

We report a fabrication of rationally-designed multicomponent nanocomposites comprising a magnetite core and an outer silver-decorated anatase shell and their application for visible-light photodegradation of organic compounds. The nanocomposites exhibit a well-defined core-shell structure, superparamagnetic behavior, wide-spectrum photoresponse and markedly enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. The enhancement of the photocatalytic activity increases with the density of decorated Ag nanoparticles in the ternary system. More importantly, the obtained nanostructured photocatalysts could be easily collected and separated by applying an external magnetic field and reused at least eight times without any appreciable reduction in photocatalytic efficiency. The enhanced photocatalytic activity and good chemical stability, in combination with the excellent magnetic recyclability, make this multifunctional nanostructure as a promising integrated system for applications in environmental remediation. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.