Carboxymethyl Cellulose Photocracking by Magnetic Recoverable Photocatalyst to Produce Biofuel in Ambient Condition

Abstract

Synthesis of Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 nanocomposite and its application as photocatalyst in Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) photocracking had been conducted. Magnetite preparation was carried out by sono-coprecipitation method. The deposition of SiO2 and TiO2 were performed by sol-gel method under ultrasonic irradiation. All material products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red spectrophotometry (FT-IR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The final material product was also analysed by specular reflectance UV-Visible (SR-UV-Vis). The product of photocracking was analysed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS).The XRD diffractogram and FT-IR spectra confirmed the presence of Fe3O4, SiO2, and anatase phase of TiO2. The TEM image revealed the presence of nanocomposite with core-shell structure. The SR-UV-Vis spectrum was used to determine band gap energy of the photocatalyst and it gave a result of 3.22 eV. The GC chromatogram of photocracking product indicated some major fractions. The MS spectra showed that some major fractions were smaller molecules including methanol, the component of biofuel.

Synthesis and Application of Fe₃O₄/SiO₂/TiO₂ Nanocomposite as Photocatalyst in CO₂ Indirect Reduction to Produce Methanol

“…Besides, the sustainable catalyst must have a good recovery system, such as magnetic recovery system. The heterogeneous magnetic catalyst has good recoverability property that enhanced the sustainability of catalyst [15]. This property was perfectly matched with photocatalyst because photocatalysis occurs in a heterogeneous system where this property enhances the recovery of the photocatalyst.…”

“…Meanwhile, the application into organic matter is limited in number. One of the application was photocracking of carboxymethyl cellulose to produce biofuel in ambient condition [15] but almost none in organic photoreduction. In this article, the photoreduction of CO2 with carbonate as an intermediate was discussed.…”