Green Synthesis of Sustainable and Cost-Effective TiO2-SiO2-Fe2O3 Heterojunction Nanocomposites for Rhodamine B Dye Degradation Under Sunlight

Abstract

TiO2-SiO2-Fe2O3 heterojunction using the ceramic technique was used in this study to investigate its effectiveness as a photocatalyst for Rhodamine B (RhB) dye degradation. Structural, optical, and morphological characterizations of the synthesized materials were carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence analysis (PL), scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) to calculate the gap energy. In addition, a degradation rate of around 97% was obtained at a pH of 8, an initial RhB concentration of 10 mg·L−1, a TS-1F semiconductor dosage of 1 g·L−1, and a reaction time of 210 min. The ability of photocatalysis to degrade RhB at different ratios, pH, and with/without H2O2 in aqueous media was evaluated under UV light, visible light (250 W), and sunlight. When it comes to the degradation of RhB under visible light (250 W) and sunlight, respectively, the influence of the n–p junction showed promising results for the degradation of RhB. In contrast, there was no discernible photocatalytic activity under UV light, which proves that the absorbance switched from UV to visible, demonstrating the decrease in the band gap energy. Additionally, an analysis of the procedure’s cost-effectiveness and reusability through an economic study revealed that the synthesized material was interesting in terms of both cost and sustainability.