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Preparation of magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2@mTiO2–Au spheres with well-designed microstructure and superior photocatalytic activity

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Abstract

Novel Fe3O4@SiO2@mTiO2–Au (mTiO2: mesoporous TiO2) core–shell microspheres were fabricated by the facile and efficient methods, and they were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, BET, VSM, and photoelectrochemical measurements. Through the test of methylene blue (MB) degradation, the relative photocatalytic activity of four samples follows the order: Fe3O4@SiO2@mTiO2–Au (FSTA) > Fe3O4@SiO2@mTiO2 (FST) > Fe3O4@mTiO2 (FT) > P25. The superior photocatalytic property of FSTA is mainly attributed to the positive effect of three components including decorative Au nanoparticles, SiO2 intermediate layer, and mesoporous TiO2 layer. Moreover, FSTA microspheres were easily recycled by using an external magnetic field while their photocatalytic efficiency had no obvious decrease after running 6 times of photocatalytic test. The well-designed microstructure makes FSTA a highly efficient, recoverable, and stable photocatalytic system, which has promising applications in environmental treatment.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Programs for High Technology Research and Development of China (863) (Item No. 2013AA032202), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61378085, 11404137 and 61308095), Program for the development of Science and Technology of Jilin province (Item No. 20130102004JC, and 20140101205JC), Program for the development of Science and Technology of Siping City ((Item No. 2015065).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130033, People’s Republic of China

    Dandan Wang & Hang Song

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Dandan Wang

  3. Key Laboratory of Functional Materials Physics and Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Normal University, Siping, 136000, People’s Republic of China

    Dandan Wang, Jinghai Yang, Xiuyan Li, Hongju Zhai & Jihui Lang

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  1. Dandan Wang
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Correspondence to Jinghai Yang or Xiuyan Li.

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Wang, D., Yang, J., Li, X. et al. Preparation of magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2@mTiO2–Au spheres with well-designed microstructure and superior photocatalytic activity. J Mater Sci 51, 9602–9612 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0167-2

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