The magnetically separable ternary polyetherimide/titanate@Fe3O4(PTF) photocatalysts of special heterostructure between magnetite(Fe3O4) microspheres and titanates nanosheets modified by polyetherimide(PEI) were successfully fabricated via a simple facile hydrothermal deposition method. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy etc. The results showed that the as-fabricated material had a structure of Fe3O4microspheres coated with titanates nanosheets modified by PEI. The special interfacial contact between 3 D microsphere and 2 D nanosheets in the nanoarchitectures was formed via electrostatic attraction. Furthermore, the resulted photocatalysts were tested by degradation reaction of methylene blue under visible light irradiation and demonstrated an enhanced performance than the pure Fe3O4microspheres, and the photocatalytic activity enhanced with the molar ratio of Fe3O4microspheres and modified titanate gradually, which was attributed to the expansion of the surface area and the different electrostatic contact between the Fe3O4microspheres and titanate nanosheets. Moreover, the obtained results revealed the high yield magnetic separation and efficient reusability of PTF-5(96.7%) over 3 times reuse.
