Magnetically Separable Mixed-Phase α/γ-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Catalyst for Photo-Fenton-like Oxidation of Rhodamine B

oleh: Asiyat Magomedova, Abdulgalim Isaev, Farid Orudzhev, Dinara Sobola, Rabadanov Murtazali, Alina Rabadanova, Nabi S. Shabanov, Mingshan Zhu, Ruslan Emirov, Sultanakhmed Gadzhimagomedov, Nariman Alikhanov, Kaviyarasu Kasinathan

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2023-05-01

Deskripsi

Iron oxides are widely used as catalysts for photo-Fenton-like processes for dye oxidation. In this study, we report on the synthesis of an α/γ-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> mixed-phase catalyst with magnetic properties for efficient separation. The catalyst was synthesized using glycine–nitrate precursors. The synthesized α/γ-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> samples were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Raman shift spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The diffraction peaks were indexed with two phases, α-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> as the main phase (79.6 wt.%) and γ-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> as the secondary phase (20.4 wt.%), determined using the Rietveld refinement method. The presence of Fe<sup>2+</sup> was attributed to oxygen vacancies. The mixed-phase α/γ-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> catalyst exhibited remarkable photo-Fenton-like degradation performance for Rhodamine B (RhB) in neutral pH. The effects of operating parameters, including H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> concentration, catalyst concentration, and RhB concentration, on the degradation efficiency were investigated. The removal rates of color were 99.2% after 12 min at optimal conditions of photo-Fenton-like oxidation of RhB. The sample exhibited a high saturation magnetization of 28.6 emu/g. Additionally, the α/γ-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> mixed-phase catalyst showed long-term stability during recycle experiments, with only a 5% decrease in activity.