A Visible Light-Induced Fe3O4/ZnO-Cu Nanocomposite and its Photocatalytic Activities for Rhodamine B Photodegradation

Synthesis of Fe3O4/ZnO-Cu nanocomposite photocatalyst has been conducted. The synthesis was carried out using the co-precipitation method with the variation of Cu concentration and modification by Fe3O4 magnetic material. As synthesized photocatalysts were characterized using FTIR, XRD, TEM, and SR UV-Visible. Photocatalytic activities of samples were evaluated through Rhodamine B degradation under visible light irradiation. The results showed that a sample with Fe3O4/ZnO-Cu 1% has smaller band gap energy of 2.90 eV and the highest photocatalytic activity than pure ZnO or Fe3O4-modified ZnO (Fe3O4/ZnO-Cu 0%) under visible light. The percentage of Rhodamine B degradation was approximately 89.41% during 120 min of visible light illumination. Moreover, the photocatalyst materials could be easily separated after photocatalysis which is due to the magnetic property of Fe3O4 material. Therefore, Cu-doped ZnO with Fe3O4 modification has been an efficient and effective visible-light-induced photocatalyst in removing non-biodegradable Rhodamine B dyes.