Data from: Akaganeite nanorices deposited muscovite mica surfaces as sunlight active green photocatalyst

Thin-films of akaganeite [FeO(OH)] nanorices deposited muscovite mica (ANPM) surfaces are produced using the facile urea assisted controlled self-assembly technique. The synthesized materials are characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The prepared nanorices on mica surfaces show average particle length and width as 200 nm and 50 nm respectively. Synthesized material acts as an efficient photocatalyst under UV and sunlight conditions as demonstrated by the degradation of standard methylene blue solution. The methylene blue degradation efficiencies of the catalyst under exposure to 180 min sunlight and UV are 89% and 87.5% respectively which shows that the catalyst is highly active under sunlight than under UV light. Therefore, the synthesized material is a potential green photocatalyst in efficient treatment of industrial dye effluents under direct sunlight.