Influence of Calcination Temperature on the Characteristic and Sonophotocatalytic Activities of Fe-doped TiO2 Particles

In this study, 3 wt% Fe-doped TiO2 particles were prepared by sol-gel method using tetrabutyl titanate and iron (III) nitrate nonahydrate as precursors. Calcination of the prepared samples was carried out at temperature of 200, 400, 600 and 800 degrees C for 2 h. The effect of calcination temperature on the composition, structure and morphology of Fedoped TiO2 were characterized using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscope (EDX) and X-ray Diffractometer (XRD). The FESEM images revealed changes in particle size from 34 to 148 nm for samples calcined at 200 to 800 degrees C, respectively. Meanwhile, XRD results demonstrated the presence of rutile phase in catalysts which were calcined above 600 degrees C. Sonophotocatalytic degradation of paracetamol using ultraviolet (UV) light and ultrasonic irradiation was performed to investigate the influence of calcination temperature on the catalytic activity of Fe-doped TiO2. Among all the calcined catalysts, the Fe-doped TiO2-600 achieved the highest degradation efficiency (74%) due to the presence of mixed anatase and rutile phases. This proved that calcination temperature is a critical parameter which affects the characteristics and catalytic activity of Fe-doped TiO2 catalyst in the sonophoto-degradation process.