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Magnetic FeO@C nanocomposites with well-defined core@shell structure were synthesized via a facile one-step solvothermal process using ferrocene as both iron and carbon resource in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (HO). The as-prepared FeO@C nanocomposites were employed as adsorbent materials for removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. Several experimental parameters, including contact time, acidity of the solution, and initial MB concentration were investigated. The result showed that the equilibrium uptake of MB was related to the MB initial concentration as well as acidity of the solution. The adsorption kinetics of MB was dominated by the pseudo-second order reaction model. Significantly, the synthesized FeO@C nanocomposites could be easily isolated from the adsorption system after adsorbing MB and showed prominent reusability. All results indicated that the prepared FeO@C composites had the potential to be used as adsorbents for the removal of dye pollutant from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistent efforts have been paid to shift the ultraviolet of titania to visible-light-driven photocatalysis. In this work, we explored a facile, cost-effective method to in situ create C-doped hollow TiO 2 spheres. This method involved the preparation of monodisperse cationic polystyrene spheres (CPS), sequential deposition of TiO 2 precursor via template-directed self-assembly, and the removal of CPS template by calcination at 450 °C. The structure and properties of hollow TiO 2 catalysts were characterized by N 2 desorption–adsorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results confirmed the carbon doping in the as-prepared hollow TiO 2 lattice. When C-doped hollow TiO 2 spheres were used as photocatalysts for the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible-light irradiation, the as-synthesized hollow anatase exhibited a superior photocatalytic activity than the commercial P25 and many TiO 2 -based photocatalysts reported in literature, significantly broadening its potential for many practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]