Self-assembly of porphyrin on the surface of a novel composite high performance photocatalyst for the degradation of organic dye from water: Characterization and performance evaluation

Abstract

Photocatalysis is a promising pathway for organic dye degradation. However, the low harvesting efficiency and poor recyclability has hindered the application of photocatalysts in practical. Herein, a graphene@Fe sub(2)O sub(3)-TiO sub(2)@porphyrin composite was successfully synthesized through re-precipitation self-assembly. The prepared was characterized by spectroscopic, microscopic, and X-ray diffraction techniques. The Fe sub(2)O sub(3)-TiO sub(2) particles in the graphene@Fe sub(2)O sub(3)-TiO sub(2)@porphyrin composite was well incorporated with the aggregated porphyrin and graphene. The porphyrin aggregates occurred as well-defined nanofibers with nanometer diameters and micrometer lengths. The as-prepared graphene@Fe sub(2)O sub(3)-TiO sub(2)@porphyrin composite was used to photo-catalytically degrade the pollutant Rhodamine B, showing high activity under simulated irradiation. A plausible mechanism for the photocatalytic performance of the graphene@Fe sub(2)O sub(3)-TiO sub(2)@porphyrin composite toward Rhodamine B was also presented.