UV light enabled photocatalytic activity of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles synthesized via phase transformation

•Fe3O4 precipitate was obtained by co-precipitation method using two iron salts.•α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were obtained via phase transformation of Fe3O4 powder.•α-Fe2O3 NPs exhibited photocatalytic activity under UV light irradiation.•92% of photocatalytic degradation of MB dye was achieved after 16 h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Materials letters 2020-01, Vol.258, p.126748, Article 126748
Main Authors: Imran, Mohd, Abutaleb, Ahmed, Ashraf Ali, Mohammed, Ahamad, Tansir, Rahman Ansari, Akhalakur, Shariq, Mohammad, Lolla, Dinesh, Khan, Afzal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aqueous solutions
Catalytic activity
Chemical precipitation
Chemical synthesis
Dyes
FTIR
Hematite
Iron oxides
Materials science
Methylene blue
Nanoparticles
Organic chemistry
Phase transformation
Phase transitions
Photocatalysis
Photocatalyst
Photodegradation
Reaction kinetics
Sodium hydroxide
Ultraviolet radiation
UV irradiation
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Summary:•Fe3O4 precipitate was obtained by co-precipitation method using two iron salts.•α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were obtained via phase transformation of Fe3O4 powder.•α-Fe2O3 NPs exhibited photocatalytic activity under UV light irradiation.•92% of photocatalytic degradation of MB dye was achieved after 16 h. In this work, hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by co-precipitation method involving chemical precipitation of aqueous salts of iron (Fe2+/Fe3+) using NaOH aqueous solution. The synthesis of α-Fe2O3NPs via phase transformation and its photocatalytic application under ultra violet (UV) light is rarely reported. The maximum removal of methylene blue (MB) dye (92%) was achieved at pH 10 and 200 mg amount of catalyst, whereas the concentration of dye was 10 ppm. The removal percentage of MB dye was found to vary with pH of the solution, concentrations of dye, and amount of α-Fe2O3 NPs for certain interval of time. Moreover, plot of ln(Ct/C0) Vs time exhibited almost a linear relationship between them which suggested the pseudo-first order kinetics reaction of photocatalytic degradation of MB.
ISSN:0167-577X
1873-4979
DOI:10.1016/j.matlet.2019.126748