Investigation of catalytic properties of silver doped magnetic-clay nanocomposite

In this study, montmorillonite/iron oxide (MMT/Fe3O4) magnetic-nanoclay was synthesized by the co-precipitation method and MMT/Fe3O4/Ag nanocomposite was obtained by adding silver (Ag) to this particle by chemical reduction method. Synthesized MMT/Fe3O4 and MMT/Fe3O4/Ag nanocomposite structures were characterized by X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrum (FTIR), Branuer-Emmet-Teller Surface Area and Porosity Dimension (BET), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM-EDX ) and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). MMT/Fe3O4/Ag nanocomposite was evaluated for the reduction of Rhodamine B (RhB) and Methyl Yellow (MY) synthetic dyes selected for this study in the presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) in order to investigate the catalytic activity of Ag and results were monitored by UV-Visible Spectrophotometer (UV-Vis). According to the obtained results, a 46% of RhB was degraded in 60 minutes using MMT/Fe3O4, while only 10% of MY was degraded in 60 minutes. However, after adding Ag to MMT/Fe3O4 magnetic-nano clay, RhB and MY were degraded at the rate of 100% at 8 minutes and 10 minutes, respectively. In addition, various parameters such as pH, particle dosage, dye concentration and NaBH4 amount were investigated in the degradation of dyes and the optimum conditions were found.