Synthesis and
Evaluation of Novel Magnetic Composites of SrFe12O19/CuO/TiO2 Nanoparticles for
Visible Light Photodegradation of Methylene Blue
Jyothi Priya K., Ramya Kumari Ch., Suneetha M., Swapna D., Supriya G., Padma M.
and Paul Douglas S.
Res. J. Chem. Environ.; Vol. 29(7); 20-29;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/297rjce020029; (2025)
Abstract
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.
