Photodegradation of para-nitrophenol catalyzed by Fe2O3/FeS nanocomposite

The Fe2O3/FeS nanocomposite is prepared in a colloidal solution and precipitation method. Characterization of Fe2O3/FeS nanocomposite is studied by X-ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The TEM image shows the particles size less than 15 nm for nanocomposite. The band-gap energy of prepared nanocomposite is obtained 2.0 eV and thus the nanocomposite is active in visible region of radiation. The pollutant of para-nitrophenol (PNP) is degraded more than 98% at presence of Fe2O3/FeS nanocomposite (1.0 g/L) at time 180 min. The photocatalytic activity of nanocomposite is compared to Fe2O3 and FeS nanoparticles. The pseudo-first-order rate constant of photodegradation reaction of PNP (10 mg/L) is obtained 20.0x10(-3), 16.0x10(-3) and 6.5x10(-3) min(-1) at presence Fe2O3/FeS, FeS and Fe2O3/, respectively. The less band-gap energy versus Fe2O3 and more reusability versus FeS are the advantages of proposed photocatalyst.