Structural and optical properties of α-Fe2O3/ZnO nanocomposite in wastewater treatment

Abstract

The present work aims to investigate the structural and optical characteristics of α-Fe₂O₃, ZnO, and α-Fe₂O₃/ZnO nanocomposite synthesized by hydrothermal method and their application in the purification of dye-contaminated water. Synthesized samples were characterized by XRD, UV and FTIR. The XRD pattern of α-Fe₂O₃/ZnO nanocomposite revealed two distinct phases corresponding to α-Fe₂O₃ and ZnO in the synthesized nanocomposite. The characteristic absorbance peaks of α-Fe₂O₃/ZnO nanocomposite were observed in UV visible spectra with a bandgap of 2.50 eV. The photocatalytic properties of the as-synthesized nanocomposite have been evaluated by the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under UV irradiation. Compared to the pure metal oxides (α-Fe₂O₃ and ZnO), the enhanced photodegradation efficiency of nanocomposite for MB dye was observed to be 78% in 105 minutes. This improved photocatalytic activity can be ascribed to the efficient charge transfer in the corresponding nanocomposite, which in turn can be attributed to the reduced recombination probability of photo-induced carriers. The as-synthesized nanocomposite could be appropriate for dye wastewater treatment.