Synthesis of Fe3O4/TiO2 nanocomposite as photocatalyst in photoreduction reaction of CO2 conversion to methanol

TiO2 modified Fe3O4 nanocomposite as photocatalyst in CO2 indirect reduction was synthesized by an ultrasonic-assisted sol-gel method and its photocatalytic activity was studied as well. The modification of the TiO2 composite was attempted to modify titanium dioxide to have better performance as a photocatalyst. Magnetite synthesis was carried out by the sono-coprecipitation method with the addition of the capping agent. The magnetite was coated with TiO2 via the sol-gel method under ultrasonic irradiation. The products were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transforms Infrared spectrophotometry (FT-IR), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and turbidimetry. The final product was also analyzed by Diffuse Reflectance UV-Visible (DR-UV) and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). The product of indirect reduction was analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Photocatalytic reaction with Fe3O4/TiO2 nanocomposite produced a higher concentration of methanol than using TiO2. Methanol concentration produced from the photocatalytic reaction using TiO2 and Fe3O4/TiO2 was 6.63 and 16.82. © 2020 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland.