Solar light degradation of organic dye pollutants and preparation of bis(indolyl)methanes using core-shell Fe₃O₄@SiO₂@CuO nanocomposite

Authors: KAVEH PARVANAK BOROUJEN, ZEINAB TOHIDIYAN, MINA MIRZAEI

Abstract: In this research, a new ferromagnetic-recoverable core-shell Fe₃O₄@SiO₂@CuO nanocomposite of a certain size (20-25 nm) has been synthesized based on Cu(II) complex coated on Fe₃O₄@SiO₂@CuO nanoparticles by facile and fast solid state microwave irradiation method. The photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite was investigated for degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dye pollutants in aqueous media under solar light irradiation. The nanocomposite could destroy these dyes with high efficiency in short time. With comparison of degradation percentages can be concluded that the nanocomposite shows better photocatalytic activity for MB dye (97% in 180 s). Kinetic study revealed higher rate constant for degradation of MB (k= 3.6×10^-3 s^-1) with pseudozero-order model. Also, FeFe₃O₄@SiO₂@CuO nanocomposite was an efficient magnetically recoverable catalyst for the preparation of bis(indolyl)methanes (BIMs) through the condensation of an aldehyde with 2 equivalents of indole in EtOH/H₂O as green solvents.

Keywords: Core-shell Fe₃O₄@SiO₂@CuO nanocomposite, microwave irradiation, solar-light photocatalytic degradation, bis(indolyl)methanes, catalysis

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