Comparison of α-Fe2O3 Nanocatalyst Synthesized with Various Surfactants and its Application in Phenol Degradation

Abstract

Breaking down organic pollutants like phenol is possible with the use of a sophisticated oxidation process called photo-Fenton. The α-Fe₂O₃ catalyst was chosen because it has a small bandgap value so it is effective in degrading organic compounds through a clean photocatalytic reaction mechanism. This study aims to synthesize α-Fe₂O₃ nanocatalysts to be applied in the phenol degradation process through the photo-Fenton reaction mechanism. The catalysts were made using a variety of surfactants in surfactant-assisted coprecipitation. In a batch setup, phenol degradations were performed with an initial concentration of 50 mg/L and reaction times of 120 min where the optimum pH value was searched initially. The concentration of phenol was analysed using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The characterization results showed that particle agglomeration of α-Fe₂O₃ catalysts was reduced by adding surfactant resulting in moreordered nanoparticles. The XRD pattern also showed that the α-Fe₂O₃ nanocatalyst with hexagonal structure was successfully formed where the average crystal size based on the Scherrer equation was 38 nm. The BET test results showed that the α-Fe₂O₃-SDS nanocatalyst had the largest surface area of 17 m²/g compared to the α-Fe₂O₃-CTAB and α-Fe₂O₃-PEG nanocatalysts. The results of the catalyst activity test showed that the α-Fe₂O₃ nanocatalyst could degrade phenol compounds with the largest degradation percentage of 47% obtained with the photo-Fenton process using a catalyst synthesized with SDS surfactant. The results of this study also prove that the photo-Fenton process can degrade phenol better than the Fenton process using the α-Fe₂O₃ nanocatalyst.