Effect of Adding Fe₃O₄ in Graphene/TiO₂/Fe₃O₄ Composite for Phenol Photodegradation Application

Abstract

In order to improve the performance of TiO2, a material that can increase the adsorption ability of TiO2 is needed, one of which is graphene. Graphene/TiO2 composites can be used to degrade phenol. The addition of a magnet material to the grapene/TiO2 composite, namely Fe3O4 is expected to facilitate the separation of the catalyst after being used in the phenol degradation process. This study aims to synthesize and characterize graphene/TiO2/Fe3O4 composites. The composite obtained was used to degrade phenol. This research begins with the modification of graphene with the surfactant cocoPAS. Synthesis of graphene/TiO2/Fe3O4 composite with various amount of Fe3O4 in composite (0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 g, respectively). Composites used for phenol degradation and separated after degradation. The composite materials were characterized by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface areas, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. Graphene/TiO2/Fe3O4 composite with a mass of Fe3O4 in the composite of 0.3 g indicates the highest degradation, while the catalyst separation process after phenol degradation showed the fastest time in the separation of the Fe3O4 mass in the composite, which was 0.5 g. the faster the separation time required, but the performance of the composite in degrading phenol is decreasing.