Prediction of pollutant removal from aqueous solutions using magnetic photocatalysts

Abstract

Abstract In this research, magnetic nanocomposite (MGO@TiO2) consisting of Fe3O4, TiO2 and graphene oxide is synthesized for the photocatalytic removal of methyl orange, and its photocatalytic activity is compared with the nanohybrid (Fe3O4@TiO2) without graphene oxide. The crystalline phases of both photocatalysts are determined using X-ray diffraction patterns. The results show that the removal efficiency of methyl orange using the synthesized nanohybrid and nanocomposite is affected by the irradiation time and the pH of the suspension. Comparing the removal efficiency of methyl orange using synthesized photocatalysts shows that the photocatalytic activity of nanocomposite is much higher than that of nanohybrid. The statistical analysis of the experimental data using the response surface method led to the selection of the quadratic model as the best statistical model to estimate the removal efficiency of methyl orange. Also, the numerical and graphical methods confirmed the adequacy of the quadratic statistical model.

Keywords

• Magnetic nanocomposite
• Nanohybrid
• Statistical analysis
• Quadratic model
• Removal efficiency