Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel Magnetic Composites of SrFe12O19/CuO/TiO2 Nanoparticles for Visible Light Photodegradation of Methylene Blue

Novel magnetic composites of SrFe12O19/CuO/TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using the sol-gel method at low temperatures. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS) and Vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) were used to characterize the structure, morphology and properties of these nanoparticles. The XRD revealed typical peaks for the nanocomposites including the anatase phase of TiO2 with an average particle diameter of 8 nm. SEM scans revealed spherical particles, while EDAX analysis verified the existence of the component elements (Fe, Ti, O, Sr and Cu) in the nanocomposites. UV-DRS studies showed that the synthesized nanocomposite had a band-gap energy of 2.318 eV. VSM investigated the magnetic characteristics of SrFe12O19, including saturation magnetization (MS). The catalytic performance of the produced nanocomposite was assessed by examining its capacity to destroy methylene blue dye under both visible and UV light. The photocatalytic studies showed that the SrFe12O19/CuO/TiO2 nanocomposites degraded methylene blue dye with 100% efficiency. Under both forms of irradiation, the SrFe12O19/ CuO/ TiO2 sample with a molar ratio of 0.8:0.1:0.1 demonstrated good catalytic efficiency and rate constant. The antibacterial activity investigations were done against Gram-negative Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus Subtilis bacteria utilizing nanocomposites. Overall, the novel nanocomposites displayed strong photocatalytic activity and better antibacterial activity.