Synthesis of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles and their applications in methylene blue treatment

In this study, nano Fe2O3 particles were synthesized by the combustion of gel from polyvinyl acohol (PVA) and tartaric acid (TA) for the degradation of methyl blue (MB) from the aqueous solution by the photocatalytic process. Factors affecting on Fe2O3 formation such as the pH of solution, temperature of gel formation, mole ratio of TA/PVA, temperature of calcination were investigated. The structure, morphology of Fe2O3 particles were characterized by analysis methods such as Differential Thermal Analysis, X- Ray Diffraction and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy. The results showed that single-phase Fe2O3 was smaller than 60 nm of average grain size. When using Fe2O3 to investigate the photocatalytic capacity under the visible light irradiation, the results indicated that Fe2O3 catalysts showed a rather high photocatalytic ability to decompose MB. The intermediates coming from the photocatalytic degradation were identified.