The Synthesis of Copper-doped Hematite Nanoparticles of Iron Ore through Impregnation Method for Photodegradation of Textile Dyes

Abstract

Abstract Copper-doped hematite (Cu-doped α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles have been synthesized by the impregnation method using iron ore as the hematite source. The structural and morphological properties of the prepared samples were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. The XRD results showed that the hematite extracted from iron ore was in the hematite phase. The average crystallite size of copper-doped hematite was slightly smaller than that of hematite. The copper-doped hematite nanoparticles exhibited high photocatalytic activity on degradation of indigo carmine (IC) dye with the degradation percentage of 98.21 % and 99.78%, respectively under UV and solar light irradiation. The highest photocatalytic activity was obtained at the experimental condition namely initial pH of IC solution 1.0, photocatalyst mass of 400 mg, initial concentration dye solution of 15 mg/L, and 90 minutes of irradiation times. The copper-doped hematite nanoparticles could also remove dyes found in batik wastewater with a percentage of the degradation up to 77.56 % and 97.83% under UV and solar light irradiation, respectively.