High Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange Dye in an Aqueous Solution by $CoFe_2O_4-SiO_2-TiO_2$ Magnetic Catalyst

This study successfully synthesized a core-shell-shell in the form of $CoFe_2O_4-SiO_2-TiO_2$ catalyst magnetic and recyclable. The catalyst was employed for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye. Subsequently, the catalyst was subjected to XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDS, VSM, as well as UV-DRS characterizations. The photocatalytic degradation was studied as a function of the solution pH, MO concentration, and irradiation time, while the kinetics of photocatalytic degradation and the catalyst reusability were also evaluated. On the basis of the XRD, FTIR, and SEM-EDS characterizations, the $CoFe_2O_4$ coating was successfully carried out using $SiO_2$ and $TiO_2$. $CoFe_2O_4-SiO_2-TiO_2$ was discovered to possess magnetic properties with a saturation magnetization of 17.59 emu/g and a bandgap value of 2.4 eV. The photocatalytic degradation of MO followed the Langmuir-Hishelwood model. The optimum degradation was obtained at the MO concentration of 25 mg/L, solution pH of 4, catalyst dose of 0.05 g/L, irradiation time of 160 minutes, MO removal efficiency achieved 93.46%. The regeneration study showed $CoFe_2O_4-SiO_2-TiO_2$ after 5 cycles were able to catalyze the photocatalytic degradation with an MO removal efficiency of 89.96%.