Controlled synthesis of reduced graphene oxide supported magnetically separable Fe₃O₄@rGO@AgI ternary nanocomposite for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of phenol

A ternary nanocomposite of Fe₃O₄@rGO@AgI was successfully synthesized by reflux method for photodegradation of phenol. The prepared nanocomposite was characterized for the physicochemical properties through XRD, FESEM, TEM, TGA, FTIR, and PL spectroscopy techniques. Fe₃O₄@rGO@AgI exhibited higher photocatalytic performance of 99% phenol degradation compared to 62, 75 and 78% using Fe₃O₄, Fe₃O₄@rGO and Fe₃O₄@AgI nanocomposites, respectively. The superior photocatalytic performance was mainly attributed to the rapid transportation of photogenerated electrons from GO nanosheets to AgI. The addition of H₂O₂ has further enhanced the phenol degradation and was the optimized loading amount of 0.4 g/350 mL achieved the highest degradation efficiency. The findings revealed that basic conditions, initial phenol concentration and catalyst amounts have significant influence on the photocatalyst performance. The 81% recyclability after five continuous cycles implied the excellent stability of the photocatalyst for practical applications.