Photocatalytic efficiency of Fe2O3/TiO2 for the degradation of typical dyes in textile industries: Effects of calcination temperature and UV-assisted thermal synthesis

Mohsen Nasirian; Ciro Fernando Bustillo-Lecompte; Mehrab Mehrvar

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.03.030

Photocatalytic efficiency of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ for the degradation of typical dyes in textile industries: Effects of calcination temperature and UV-assisted thermal synthesis

J Environ Manage. 2017 Jul 1:196:487-498. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.03.030. Epub 2017 Mar 24.

Authors

Mohsen Nasirian¹, Ciro Fernando Bustillo-Lecompte², Mehrab Mehrvar³

Affiliations

¹ Graduate Programs in Environmental Applied Science and Management, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada. Electronic address: mmehrvar@ryerson.ca.

PMID: 28343050
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.03.030

Abstract

The inadequate management practices in industrial textile effluents have a considerable negative impact on the environment and human health due to the indiscriminate release of dyes. Photocatalysis is one of the diverse advance oxidation processes (AOPs) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is recognized for its high oxidation and reduction power. A composite photocatalyst of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ is synthesized using different mass ratios of Fe:TiO₂ to improve its photoactivity. The composite photocatalyst is calcined at 300-900 °C. Their photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Congo red (CR) and methyl orange (MO) is investigated by total organic carbon (TOC) analysis. The formation and characterization of the as-prepared composite are studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The effect of calcination temperature on the composite Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ photocatalyst is investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The photocatalytic activity and the phase conversion are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The specific surface area of photocatalysts at different calcination temperatures is investigated based on Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis. Results show that at an optimum calcination temperature of 300 °C for the photocatalyst preparation, the specific surface area is maximum and the photocatalyst has the highest photoactivity. Thus, the degradation of organic materials reaches 62.0% for MO and 46.8% for CR in the presence of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ (0.01 w:w Fe:TiO₂) calcined at 300 °C with the highest specific surface area (98.73 m²/g). The transformation of TiO₂ from anatase to rutile is facilitated by high temperature and high concentration of iron while high crystallization and particle size increase occur. An optimum calcination temperature of 300 °C is found at which the degradation of typical dyes in textile industries is maximum.

Keywords: AOPs; Calcination temperature; Dye degradation; Fe(2)O(3)/TiO(2); Photocatalysis; Photocatalyst synthesis.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Coloring Agents*
Ferric Compounds
Temperature
Textile Industry*
Titanium
Water Purification*

Substances

Coloring Agents
Ferric Compounds
titanium dioxide
Titanium