Photo-degradation of azo dyes: photo catalyst and magnetic investigation of CuFe2O4-TiO2 nanoparticles and nanocomposites

CuFe2O4 nanoparticles were first synthesized via a fast and simple precipitation method. Then CuFe2O4-TiO2 nanocomposites were prepared using sol-gel method. The prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Alternating gradient force magnetometer was used to study the magnetic property of the products. The results illustrated either superparamagnetic or ferromagnetic behaviour of CuFe2O4 nanoparticles. The photo-catalytic behaviour of CuFe2O4-TiO2 nanocomposites was evaluated using the degradation of four various azo dyes under ultraviolet light irradiation. The results show that the prepared nanocomposites are applicable for magnetic and photo-catalytic performance.