Application of CuO/α-Fe₂O₃ Composite from Magnetic Filter Ceramic Waste as Photocatalyst for Handling Methylene Blue

Abstract Ceramic waste is considered non-recyclable waste, but it lacks regulations for processing waste from the ceramic industry. Industrial ceramic waste can be reused as a photocatalyst material because it contains metal oxides, including abundant iron oxide. However, the disadvantage of iron oxide as a photocatalyst is the high level of charge recombination. Compositing is one of the ways to increase the photocatalytic activity of iron oxide. The composite chosen in this research is the CuO/α-Fe 2 O 3 composite. CuO works to reduce charge recombination of α-Fe 2 O 3 by increasing charge separation. The purpose of this synthesis is for analyzing photocatalyst activity of CuO/α-Fe 2 O 3 composite to degrading methylene blue. In this research, α-Fe 2 O 3 and CuO were synthesized with the coprecipitation method and compotizing with solid-state method. CuO/α-Fe 2 O 3 composite was characterized with XRD and UV-DRS. XRD characterization shows that both iron oxide and copper oxide phases on the composite. CuO/α-Fe 2 O 3 composite phase having crystal size between 220 – 280 nm. At UV-DRS characterization, band gap energy of CuO/α-Fe 2 O 3 composite obtained from Kubelka Munk equation is between 1,38 – 1,49 eV. The best condition was found on CuO/α-Fe 2 O 3 1:1 composite with an optimum mass of 9 g/L methylene blue at 180 minute of exposure and at a pH of 11.