A Novel Magnetically Recoverable Photocatalyst for Removal of Organic Compounds from Contaminated Water

A novel magnetically recoverable core-shell Fe₃O₄@Ag₃PO₄/AgCl photocatalyst has been developed featuring fast magnetic separation, stability and high photocatalytic activity under simulated solar light. This novel core-shell photocatalyst exhibited high photocatalytic activity towards degradation of chlorsulfuron (ChS) under simulated solar light. The complete degradation of ChS over the Fe₃O₄@Ag₃PO₄/AgCl photocatalyst took only about 60min. As a result, the developed photocatalytic integrated microspheres can effectively degrade organic pollutants and can be easily recovered by a magnet, and reused at least five times without appreciable reduction in photocatalytic efficiency. Therefore, the Fe₃O₄@Ag₃PO₄/AgCl photocatalyst developed in this study is a promising alternative for degrading organic pollutants. (paper)