γ-Fe2O3 photocatalyst immobilized on a porous Ni substrate for recyclable solar photocatalysis

This study aims to improve the efficiency of fixed-bed-type photocatalytic reactors by immobilizing maghemite photocatalytic nanoparticles on a porous nickel substrate by using autoclave method. The resulting three-dimensional maghemite-Ni photocatalyst (3DMNP) has been characterized by using SEM/EDS, XRD, FTIR, TGA, and DTA. The photocatalytic behavior of the 3DMNP has been studied through the degradation of methyl orange in ultraviolet light as well as natural sunlight. It has been reported that the prepared 3DMNP demonstrates an excellent photocatalytic activity in both UV light and sunlight and can also be easily recycled for at least three subsequent cycles. This improved photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the charge carrier separation caused by the presence of nickel. Graphical abstract