TiO2/CdS nanocomposite stabilized on a magnetic-cored dendrimer for enhanced photocatalytic activity and reusability

Asad Mahmood; Jae-Woo Park

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2019.08.036

TiO₂/CdS nanocomposite stabilized on a magnetic-cored dendrimer for enhanced photocatalytic activity and reusability

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2019 Nov 1:555:801-809. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.08.036. Epub 2019 Aug 9.

Authors

Asad Mahmood¹, Jae-Woo Park²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 04763, South Korea.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 04763, South Korea. Electronic address: jaewoopark@hanyang.ac.kr.

PMID: 31421560
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.08.036

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂)-cadmium sulfide (CdS) hybrid nanoparticles on magnetic-cored dendrimers (MCDs) of the zero and first generations (G0 and G1, respectively) were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. TiO₂ was embedded with CdS to produce more radicals and suppress the recombination of photo-induced electrons and holes. A dendrimer with a magnetite core was used as a template to immobilize the TiO₂/CdS nanocomposites. They were characterized via scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The obtained G0- and G1-MCD-TiO₂/CdS exhibited high photocatalytic activity and was able to degrade methyl orange (MO) by 83.6 and 88.5%, respectively, in 120 min under ultraviolet irradiation. After 5 cycles, the MO degradation by G0- and G1-MCD-TiO₂/CdS was 78.8 and 81.4%, respectively. The MCD-TiO₂/CdS materials were easily recycled by applying an external magnetic field. G0-TiO₂/CdS was more efficient in photocatalytic performance than G1-TiO₂/CdS. Apparent quantum yields (AQYs) and figures of merit (FOMs) were calculated to quantify the photocatalytic performance. The AQYs of G0- and G1-MCD-TiO₂/CdS were 3.48 × 10^-5 and 3.69 × 10^-5 molecules photon^-1, respectively. The FOM of our proposed materials demonstrated its high capability for photocatalytic degradation of MO.

Keywords: Cadmium sulfide; Magnetic-cored dendrimers; Photocatalyst; Titanium dioxide.