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Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance of Fe3O4 nanopyramids for water splitting and dye degradation

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Abstract

Iron oxide (Fe3O4) pyramid nanostructures were synthesized via a co-precipitation method, without using surfactants or template, for photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic activities. The as-made Fe3O4 was characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The data clearly demonstrate that the Fe3O4 nanostructures display excellent crystallinity, uniform morphology with a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 52.95 m2 g−1, and an optical bandgap of 2.17 eV, which allows them to serve as outstanding catalysts under visible irradiation. The highest photocatalytic activity of ~ 97% was achieved in the degradation of rhodamine B under visible irradiation, with a degradation rate constant of 0.0322 min−1 at room temperature. Further, electrochemical studies demonstrated that the Fe3O4 electrode possesses good electrocatalytic activity in 0.1 M KOH electrolyte. The highest photocurrent density of 1.2 × 10−4 mA cm−2 was observed in the water splitting reaction. The Fe3O4 nanostructures exhibited superior performance in terms of both dye degradation and photoelectrochemical activity.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korea government (No. 2015R1A2A2A01003741, 2015R1C1A2A01052256, 2018R1D1A1B07048307, and 2017R1A4A1015581).

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Author notes

  1. I. Neelakanta Reddy and Migyung Cho contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea

    I. Neelakanta Reddy, Ch. Venkata Reddy, Jaesool Shim & Kisoo Yoo

  2. Department of Physics, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea

    Adem Sreedhar & Jin Seog Gwag

  3. School of Information Engineering, Tongmyong University, Busan, South Korea

    Migyung Cho

  4. Aircraft System Technology Group, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Yeongcheon-si, Gyeongbuk-do, South Korea

    Dongseob Kim

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  1. I. Neelakanta Reddy
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  2. Adem Sreedhar
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  3. Ch. Venkata Reddy
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  4. Jaesool Shim
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  5. Migyung Cho
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  6. Dongseob Kim
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  7. Jin Seog Gwag
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  8. Kisoo Yoo
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to I. Neelakanta Reddy, Jaesool Shim, Dongseob Kim or Kisoo Yoo.

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Highlights

•Fe3O4 pyramid-shaped nanostructures (PSNS) were prepared by co-precipitation method.

•The PSNS showed RhB degradation of ~ 97% in visible light illumination.

•Catalytic activity was stable with a number of test cycles.

•The highest photocurrent density of 1.2 × 10−4 mA/cm2 in photoelectrochemical studies was observed.

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Reddy, I.N., Sreedhar, A., Reddy, C.V. et al. Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance of Fe3O4 nanopyramids for water splitting and dye degradation. J Solid State Electrochem 22, 3535–3546 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-018-4054-4

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