TiO<sub>2</sub>-Decorated by Nano-γ-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> as a Catalyst for Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Orange G Dye under Eco-friendly White LED Irradiation
Ahmed Halfadji, Abdelkader Chougui, Rania Djeradi, Fatima Zohra Ouabad, Hanane Aoudia, Shashanka Rajendrachari
Abstract
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Azo dyes make up a major class of dyes that have been widely studied for their diverse applications. In this study, we successfully applied nano-γ-Fe 2 O 3 /TiO 2 as a nanocatalyst to improve the photodegradation efficiency of azo dyes (Orange G (OG) dye as a model) from aqueous solution under white light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation. We also investigated the degradation mechanisms and pathways of OG dye as well as the effects of the initial pH value, amount of H 2 O 2, catalyst dosage, and dye concentration on the degradation processes. The characterizations of nano-γ-Fe 2 O 3 and γ-Fe 2 O 3 Nps/TiO 2 were carried out using various techniques, including X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and UV–visible spectroscopy. The efficiency of the photodegradation reaction of OG was found to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics (Langmuir–Hinshelwood model) with a rate constant of 0.0338 min –1 and an R 2 of 0.9906. Scavenger experiments revealed that hydroxyl radicals and superoxide anion radicals were the dominant species in the OG photocatalytic oxidation mechanism. This work provides a new method for designing highly efficient heterostructure-based photocatalysts (γ-Fe 2 O 3 Nps/TiO 2 ) based on LED light irradiation for environmental applications.