The Effect of Sacrificial Agents in the Photodegradation of Methylene Blue Using Ag-Fe3O4 Nanoparticles
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26740/jpfa.v16n1.p11-26Keywords:
PhotocatalystAbstract
Organic dyes in water are hazardous pollutants due to their toxic properties. One method capable of decomposing these pollutants is photocatalysis. Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) is an iron oxide that can be used as a photocatalyst material and synthesized using the coprecipitation method. These properties facilitate the separation of impurities from the medium. However, Fe₃O₄ has limited photocatalytic activity, so it needs to be composited with silver (Ag) to increase light absorption. Ag material can be produced using AgNO₃ as a source of silver ions. The resulting catalyst, with the addition of Sacrificial Agent solutions, was tested for photocatalytic Methylene Blue solution. The XRD, EDX, SEM, and Photocatalytic characterization results showed a crystalline Fe₃O₄ structure and appropriate material composition. This study demonstrates that adding Ag can enhance the photocatalytic activity of Fe₃O₄, while adding SA can minimize electron-hole recombination and increase the MB degradation efficiency.
References
[1] V. Singh and P. Bansal, “Fabrication and characterization of needle shaped CuO nanoparticles and their application as photocatalyst for degradation of organic pollutants,” Mater Lett, vol. 261, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2019.126929.
[2] D. Karthigaimuthu et al., “Construction of g-C3N4/MoS2/SnO2 hybrid as 2D/2D/1D architecture for counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells and photodegradation of pharmaceutical drugs from wastewater,” Applied Surface Science Advances, vol. 27, Jun. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.apsadv.2025.100771.
[3] A. Rizky Pradipta et al., “Sintesis Nanokomposit Fe 3 O 4 /TiO 2 Sebagai Fotokatalis yang Dapat Diambil Kembali Dalam Fotoreduksi Limbah Ion Perak(I),” 2021.
[4] A. H. Kianfar and M. A. Arayesh, “Synthesis, characterization and investigation of photocatalytic and catalytic applications of Fe3O4/TiO2/CuO nanoparticles for degradation of MB and reduction of nitrophenols,” J Environ Chem Eng, vol. 8, no. 1, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.jece.2019.103640.
[5] T. C. Raganata, H. Aritonang, and D. E. Suryanto, “SINTESIS FOTOKATALIS NANOPARTIKEL ZnO UNTUK MENDEGRADASI ZAT WARNA METHYLENE BLUE,” Chem. Prog, vol. 12, no. 2, p. 54, 2019, doi: 10.35799/cp.12.2.2019.27755.
[6] K. M. Lee, C. W. Lai, K. S. Ngai, and J. C. Juan, “Recent developments of zinc oxide based photocatalyst in water treatment technology: A review,” Jan. 01, 2016, Elsevier Ltd. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2015.09.045.
[7] Z. Mengting et al., “Applicability of BaTiO3/graphene oxide (GO) composite for enhanced photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) in synthetic wastewater under UV–vis irradiation,” Environmental Pollution, vol. 255, Dec. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113182.
[8] I. Khan et al., “Review on Methylene Blue: Its Properties, Uses, Toxicity and Photodegradation,” Jan. 01, 2022, MDPI. doi: 10.3390/w14020242.
[9] L. I. Jinga et al., “Chemical degradation of methylene blue dye using tio2/au nanoparticles,” Nanomaterials, vol. 11, no. 6, Jun. 2021, doi: 10.3390/nano11061605.
[10] S. Alkaykh, A. Mbarek, and E. E. Ali-Shattle, “Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye in aqueous solution by MnTiO3 nanoparticles under sunlight irradiation,” Heliyon, vol. 6, no. 4, Apr. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03663.
[11] N. P. Rini, N. I. Istiqomah, Sunarta, and E. Suharyadi, “Enhancing photodegradation of methylene blue and reusability using CoO/ZnO composite nanoparticles,” Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, vol. 7, Jun. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.cscee.2023.100301.
[12] C. I. Tarcea et al., “Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye Using TiO2 and Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 as Photocatalysts,” in IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Physics Publishing, Jul. 2020. doi: 10.1088/1757-899X/877/1/012008.
[13] M. V. Arularasu, J. Devakumar, and T. V. Rajendran, “An innovative approach for green synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles: Characterization and its photocatalytic activity,” Polyhedron, vol. 156, pp. 279–290, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.poly.2018.09.036.
[14] N. Sanaeifar, M. Rabiee, M. Abdolrahim, M. Tahriri, D. Vashaee, and L. Tayebi, “A novel electrochemical biosensor based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles-polyvinyl alcohol composite for sensitive detection of glucose,” Anal Biochem, vol. 519, pp. 19–26, Feb. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2016.12.006.
[15] M. Saeed, M. Muneer, A. Ul Haq, and N. Akram, “Photocatalysis: an effective tool for photodegradation of dyes-a review”, doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-16389-7/Published.
[16] M. I. Mauliana, Y. Findawati, and G. R. Hanum, “The Effect of Carbon on Chitosan-ZnO Composites as Fabric Mask Coating Materials,” Sainmatika: Jurnal Ilmiah Matematika dan Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 140–146, Nov. 2023, doi: 10.31851/sainmatika.v20i2.12651.
[17] S. N. Yahya et al., “Photodegradation of organic water pollutants using magnetically separable and reusable novel Ag-doped Fe3O4/TiO2 nanocomposites synthesized by green route,” Inorg Chem Commun, vol. 172, Feb. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.inoche.2024.113749.
[18] M. Saeed et al., “Synthesis of Ag-Fe3O4 nanoparticles for degradation of methylene blue in aqueous medium,” Bull Chem Soc Ethiop, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 123–134, Apr. 2020, doi: 10.4314/BCSE.V34I1.11.
[19] X. Yang, W. Chen, J. Huang, Y. Zhou, Y. Zhu, and C. Li, “Rapid degradation of methylene blue in a novel heterogeneous Fe3O4 @rGO@TiO2-catalyzed photo-Fenton system,” Sci Rep, vol. 5, May 2015, doi: 10.1038/srep10632.
[20] O. Fontelles-Carceller, M. J. Muñoz-Batista, J. C. Conesa, A. Kubacka, and M. Fernández-García, “H2 photo-production from methanol, ethanol and 2-propanol: Pt-(Nb)TiO2 performance under UV and visible light,” Molecular Catalysis, vol. 446, pp. 88–97, Feb. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.mcat.2017.12.023.
[21] J. C. Bollinger, E. C. Lima, L. Mouni, S. Salvestrini, and H. N. Tran, “Molecular properties of methylene blue, a common probe in sorption and degradation studies: a review,” Oct. 01, 2025, Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/s10311-025-01856-1.
[22] A. J. Carmona-Carmona et al., “Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue by Magnetic Opal/Fe3O4 Colloidal Crystals under Visible Light Irradiation,” Photochem, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 390–407, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.3390/photochem3040024.
[23] D. O. Idisi, U. O. Aigbe, D. Chilukusha, B. W. Mwakikunga, and J. K. O. Asante, “Photoresponse properties of green-assisted Fe3O4 nanoparticles supported activated carbon,” Diam Relat Mater, vol. 149, Nov. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.diamond.2024.111584.
[24] C. F. Zhang et al., “A novel magnetic recyclable photocatalyst based on a core-shell metal-organic framework Fe3O4@MIL-100(Fe) for the decolorization of methylene blue dye,” J Mater Chem A Mater, vol. 1, no. 45, pp. 14329–14334, Dec. 2013, doi: 10.1039/c3ta13030d.
[25] A. Maddu, E. Palupi, S. Pramudito, and D. M. Nur Indro, “PENGARUH KONSENTRASI AWAL DAN PENAMBAHAN H 2 O 2 TERHADAP EFEKTIVITAS DEGRADASI FOTOKATALISIS METHYLENE BLUE PADA FILM TiO 2 INFLUENCE OF INITIAL CONCENTRATION AND HYDROGEN PEROXIDE ADDITION ON DEGRADATION EFFICIENCY OF METHYLENE BLUE PHOTOCATALYSIS USING TiO 2 FILM.”
[26] H. Liu et al., “Highly flexible Fe2O3/TiO2 composite nanofibers for photocatalysis and utraviolet detection,” Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, vol. 121, pp. 236–246, Oct. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.jpcs.2018.05.019.
[27] T. K. Pathak, R. E. Kroon, V. Craciun, M. Popa, M. C. Chifiriuc, and H. C. Swart, “Influence of Ag, Au and Pd noble metals doping on structural, optical and antimicrobial properties of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanomaterials,” Heliyon, p. e01333, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.
[28] R. J. Stella, I. Sreevani, T. R. Gurugubelli, R. V. S. S. N. Ravikumar, and R. Koutavarapu, “Enhanced Solar Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline Using Fe3+-Doped CdO/ZnS Nanocomposite: Mechanistic Insights and Performance Evaluation,” Catalysts, vol. 13, no. 9, Sep. 2023, doi: 10.3390/catal13091312.
[29] L. Gao, H. Zhang, W. Liu, S. Zhang, and Z. Xie, “Electro and magneto dual response of TiO2@Fe3O4 core–shell composite nanoparticle,” Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, vol. 34, no. 2, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.1007/s10854-022-09529-3.
[30] Y. Zhao et al., “Controlled synthesis and photocatalysis of sea urchin-like Fe3O4@TiO2@Ag nanocomposites,” Nanoscale, vol. 8, no. 9, pp. 5313–5326, Mar. 2016, doi: 10.1039/c5nr08624h.
[31] V. Kumaravel et al., “Photocatalytic hydrogen production: Role of sacrificial reagents on the activity of oxide, carbon, and sulfide catalysts,” Catalysts, vol. 9, no. 3, Mar. 2019, doi: 10.3390/catal9030276.
[32] Z. Zahid et al., “Photocatalytic Reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) and Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue and Antifungal Activity of Ag/TiO2 Composites Synthesized via the Template Induced Route,” Inorganics (Basel), vol. 11, no. 3, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.3390/inorganics11030133.
[33] C. R. López, E. P. Melián, J. A. Ortega Méndez, D. E. Santiago, J. M. Doña Rodríguez, and O. González Díaz, “Comparative study of alcohols as sacrificial agents in H2 production by heterogeneous photocatalysis using Pt/TiO2 catalysts,” J Photochem Photobiol A Chem, vol. 312, pp. 45–54, Nov. 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.jphotochem.2015.07.005.
[34] R. Avilés-Monreal, A. Cárdenas-Rodríguez, M. H. Farías, H. A. Borbón-Nuñez, and F. Castillón-Barraza, “Degradation of methylene blue catalyzed by a photo-Fenton reaction of g-C3N4/Fe3O4 nanocomposite with visible light,” Fullerenes Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures, 2025, doi: 10.1080/1536383X.2025.2533940.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Jurnal Penelitian Fisika dan Aplikasinya (JPFA)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Author(s) who wish to publish with this journal should agree to the following terms:
-
- Copyright of articles published in Jurnal Penelitian Fisika dan Aplikasinya (JPFA) is held by Jurnal Penelitian Fisika dan Aplikasinya (JPFA).
- The author(s) grant JPFA the right to publish, reproduce, distribute, and make the article available in all forms and media.
- The published article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal for noncommercial purposes.
- Author(s) are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
The publisher publishes and distributes the article with copyright notice to Jurnal Penelitian Fisika dan Aplikasinya (JPFA) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Abstract views: 6
,
PDF Downloads: 12




