Preparation and Characterization of Activated Carbon (AC) Doped Iron Oxide (Fe2O3) Nanoparticles

This study involves the synthesis of activated carbon (AC) doped iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanoparticles by a sol-gel technique, followed by calcination at 600 °C. The prepared nanoparticles are characterized to study the microstructure, optical, magnetic and photocatalytic activity using X-ray diffraction, Field emission scanning electron microscopy, UV-Visible spectroscopy, vibration sample magnetometer, and photoreactor. XRD studies confirmed the presence of Fe2O3 phase with the mean crystallite size of 18 nm. The optical studies revealed a bandgap of 2.15 eV. The magnetic studies confirmed the ferromagnetic nature of the nanoparticles. Photocatalytic activity of the nanoparticles was studied for MB dye and found the degradation efficiency of 87 % in 2 h.