The synthesis of cubic Fe2O3·TiO2 material and its application in heterogeneous photo-Fenton degradation of dyes under visible light

In the present study, the synthesis of metal organic framework (MOF) template-derived materials is reported. Cubic Fe 2 O 3 ·TiO 2 material was synthesized by using Prussian blue as the sacrificed template and aqueous soluble TiOSO 4 as a TiO 2 precursor. The obtained material was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS), and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The characterization confirmed the existence of cubic α-Fe 2 O 3 core and anatase TiO 2 shell in the composite. Furthermore, the appearance of TiO 2 shell has significantly enhanced the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area yet still retained small bandgap energy of around 2.0 eV. This material was employed to degrade chosen organic dyes, including cationic dyes and anionic dye, in a heterogeneous photo-Fenton like system. The experimental results showed that this material exhibited higher adsorption and degradation capacity toward cationic dyes than anionic dye. The fitting of experimental data into two kinetic models revealed that the removal of the dyes can be better described by Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. The recyclability of the catalyst was also examined. Graphical Abstract