Simultaneous precipitation and discharge plasma processing for one-step synthesis of α-Fe2O3-Fe3O4/graphene visible light magnetically separable photocatalysts

Nguyen Long Tuyen; Tran Quoc Toan; Nguyen Ba Hung; Pham Quoc Trieu; Nguyen Ngoc Dinh; Danh Bich Do; Dang Van Thanh; Van-Truong Nguyen

doi:10.1039/d2ra06844c

Simultaneous precipitation and discharge plasma processing for one-step synthesis of α-Fe₂O₃-Fe₃O₄/graphene visible light magnetically separable photocatalysts

RSC Adv. 2023 Mar 7;13(11):7372-7379. doi: 10.1039/d2ra06844c. eCollection 2023 Mar 1.

Authors

Nguyen Long Tuyen^{1

2}, Tran Quoc Toan³, Nguyen Ba Hung⁴, Pham Quoc Trieu¹, Nguyen Ngoc Dinh¹, Danh Bich Do⁵, Dang Van Thanh^{6

7}, Van-Truong Nguyen⁸

Affiliations

¹ VNU University of Science 334 Nguyen Trai Str. Thanh Xuan Dist. Hanoi Vietnam.
² Hung Vuong University Nong Trang Viet Tri City Phu Tho Vietnam.
³ Faculty of Chemistry, Thai Nguyen University of Education 20 Luong Ngoc Quyen Thai Nguyen Vietnam.
⁴ Vietnam Military Medical University 160 Phung Hung Ha Dong Hanoi Vietnam.
⁵ Faculty of Physics, Hanoi National University of Education 136 Xuan Thuy Cau Giay 100000 Hanoi Viet Nam.
⁶ TNU-University of Medicine and Pharmacy 284 Luong Ngoc Quyen Thai Nguyen Vietnam.
⁷ Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Science, Vietnam National University 334 Nguyen Trai Road Ha Noi City 100000 Hanoi Vietnam.
⁸ Faculty of Fundamental and Applied Science, Thai Nguyen University of Technology 666, 3/2 Street, Tich Luong Ward Thai Nguyen Vietnam vtnguyen@tnut.edu.vn.

Abstract

A novel facile combination of precipitation and plasma discharge reaction is successfully employed for one-step synthesis of an α-Fe₂O₃-Fe₃O₄ graphene nanocomposite (GFs). The co-existence and anchoring of hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) and magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles onto a graphene sheet in the as synthesized GFs were verified by results of XRD, Raman, SEM, TEM, and XPS. HRTEM characterization was used for confirming the bonding between α-Fe₂O₃/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and the graphene sheet. Consequently, GFs shows superior photodegrading performance towards methylene blue (MB), compared to individual α-Fe₂O₃/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, as a result of band gap narrowing and the electron-hole pair recombination rate reducing. Moreover, GFs allows a good possibility of separating and recycling under an external-magnetic field, suggesting potential in visible-light-promoted photocatalytic applications.