One-step synthesis of TiO2/γ-Fe2O3/GO nanocomposites for visible light-driven degradation of ciprofloxacin

A series of TiO 2 and γ-Fe 2 O 3 co-doped graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets ( x TiO 2 /γ-Fe 2 O 3 /GO) were prepared by a facile self-assembly method. The characterization results show that the x TiO 2 /γ-Fe 2 O 3 /GO have the advantages of narrow band gap energies (<2.47 eV), and high structure stability. The incorporation of TiO 2 into γ-Fe 2 O 3 /GO composite dramatically enhances the catalytic activity, and the 0.03TiO 2 /γ-Fe 2 O 3 /GO composite exhibits the highest catalytic efficiency (99%) for ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation (10 mg/L, 50 ml) within 140 min under visible light, which is ~1.5 times higher than that of γ-Fe 2 O 3 /GO composite without TiO 2 . Furthermore, the photo-Fenton like mechanism was proposed by quenching experiment and electrochemistry method. The intermediates of the CIP degradation were analyzed by the assistance of LC-MS technology, which provides insight into the pathway of CIP degradation.