Novel magnetically separable AgCl/iron oxide composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity driven by visible light

Highlights: •The AgCl/iron oxide composites were prepared by a chemical precipitation method. •The composites exhibited improved performances in the photodegradation of pollutants. •The visible light photocatalysts could be recycled easily by a magnet. -- Abstract: In this work, AgCl/iron oxide composites were synthesized by a simple chemical precipitation method and calcining process. The composition of the material and magnetic and optical properties of the composites were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating specimen magnetometer (VSM) techniques, which confirms the high crystalline and magnetic behavior of the composites. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectral (DRS) studies showed that the AgCl/iron oxide composites were of much higher absorption in longer wavelength region compared to bare iron oxide. The AgCl/iron oxide composites showed better performance in the photodegradation of organic dyes Rhodamin B (RhB) under the fluorescent lamp irradiation, which is remarkably superior to the N-TiO2. The degradation of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and phenol was also found to be good owing to its effective electron-hole separation at AgCl/iron oxide interface. The separation of AgCl/iron oxide composites from the treated water was achieved by an external magnetic field as γ-Fe2O3 exhibits enough magnetic power to facilitate the separation