Photo-degradation of Congored, acid brown and acid violet: photo catalyst and magnetic investigation of CuFe2O4-TiO2-Ag nanocomposites

Copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) nanoparticles were first synthesized via a microwave-assisted method. Then CuFe2O4-TiO2 nanocomposites were prepared using sol-gel method. The silver nanoparticles were produced through reduction of silver nitrate (AgNO3) with sodium borohydride (NaBH4). By addition NaBH4-AgNO3 in the presence of the CuFe2O4-TiO2, nanocomposite of CuFe2O4-TiO2-Ag was produced by a simple precipitation method. This nanocomposite was also prepared using hydrothermal 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 superparamagnetic behaviour of CuFe2O4 nanoparticles. The photo-catalytic behaviour of CuFe2O4-TiO2-Ag nanocomposites was evaluated using the degradation of three various azo dyes under ultraviolet light and visible light irradiation. These results suggest that the prepared nanocomposites are applicable for magnetic and photo-catalytic performance in both visible and UV light.