Preparation of SiO2/α-Fe2O3 Composite from Rice Husk and Iron Sand as a Photocatalyst for Degradation of Acid Black 1 Dye

Abstract

Abstract The SiO2/α-Fe2O3 composite was successfully synthesized using impregnation method by using rice husk ash as silica (SiO2) sources. Hematite (α-Fe2O3) was derived from iron sand which was extracted using hydrochloric acid and ammonium hydroxide as co-precipitation agent. The synthesized SiO2/α-Fe2O3 composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and diffuse reflectance (DR) UV spectroscopy. The performance of as prepared SiO2/α-Fe2O3 composite was evaluated on photodegradation of acid black 1 (AB 1) dye under UV light irradiation. The results showed that SiO2/α-Fe2O3 composite exhibits high photocatalytic acitivity for degradation of acid black 1 with degradation efficiency up to 85.86% within 120 minutes. The photocatalytic activity of SiO2/α-Fe2O3 composite was higher than that of bare α-Fe2O3. The SiO2/α-Fe2O3composite also can remove textile wastewater containing AB1 dye up to 82.96%. This results suggest that SiO2/α-Fe2O3 composite holds a great potential for degradation of dyes and various application in wastewater treatment.