High catalytic activity of magnetic CuFe2O4/graphene oxide composite for the degradation of organic dyes under visible light irradiation

Magnetic CuFe2O4/graphene oxide composite (CuFe2O4/GO) has been synthesized by hydrothermal method and showed excellent visible-light-photocatalytic activity for the degradation of different dyes as Rhodamine B (RhB) and acid orange II (AO7) with no need of H2O2. The Structure and morphology were investigated by XRD, FTIR and TEM and the performance of the catalyst was systematically investigated under various experimental conditions as pH, the dosage of catalyst, dye initial concentration, etc. The dyes degradation on CuFe2O4/GO was also remained in a level in the presence of OH2-, radical scavenger (2-propanol), while it decreased in the presence of center dot O-2(-) radical scavenger (benzoquinone) and h(+) radical scavenger (ammonium oxalate), indicating that center dot O-2(-) and h(+) radicals were responsible for the dye degradation. The magnetic CuFe2O4/GO composite shows potential applications in organic dye water treatment due to its magnetically recyclability and powerful visible-light-photocatalytic activity. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.