Synthesis of TiO₂/Fe₂O₃ Nanocomposites as Photocatalyst for Methyl Orange Degradation

¹ Departement of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia
² Research Center for Advanced Chemistry, National Research and Innovation Agency, Serpong, Indonesia

Abstract

Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ composites were successfully synthesized using the sol-gel method. The photocatalytic performance of prepared nanocomposites to degrade methyl orange under UV light irradiation was systematically investigated. The Fe₂O₃ added and calcination temperature were varied to study their effect on psychochemical properties. Further, to study the effect of psychochemical properties of the prepared nanocomposites on photocatalytic activity, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) characterization were conducted. The visible light active Fe₂O₃ photocatalyst managed to decrease the bandgap energy of the prepared composites from 3.32 eV to 1.95 eV. This decrease in the band gap energy led to the composite being more active under visible light and less active under UV light irradiation. A composite with 6% Fe₂O₃ content exhibits the smallest degradation efficiency of 14% in 180 min, while the pure TiO₂ nanoparticles are 94%. The results in this study provided important implications for further research on the preparation of composite TiO₂ with Fe₂O₃ co-catalyst showing a promising route for improving the visible light activity of photocatalysts.