Co-precipitation synthesis of α-Fe2O3: Characterization and their activities on photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

In this work, spherical α-Fe2O3 were synthesized using the facile co-precipitation followed by calcination at 500°C (Fe-1) and 700°C (Fe-2) for 3 h. The as-synthesized Fe-1 and Fe-2 samples were characterized by Fourier-transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). All results predict the successful preparation of Fe-1 and Fe-2 as soft magnetic materials. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of as-synthesized Fe-1 and Fe-2 were evaluated by degrading methylene blue (MB) dye is aqueous solution under simulated sunlight irradiation at low alkaline pH in the presence of a small amount of H2O2 as an oxidant. The effects of the initial pH of the solution and irradiation time on the photocatalytic properties were investigated. Under the best optimized conditions, Fe-1 exhibited better MB degradation with 94% efficiency than Fe-2 (78%). The kinetic study showed that the photocatalytic degradation of MB was followed by a pseudo first-order (PFO) model. The reusability studies of the samples predicted good stability and efficiency after 6 cycles.