UVC Promoted Photodegradation of Harmful Dyes Using Magnetically Recoverable Fe3O4/In(OH)3 Nanocomposites

Wong, Fui Chin (2022) UVC Promoted Photodegradation of Harmful Dyes Using Magnetically Recoverable Fe3O4/In(OH)3 Nanocomposites. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Health care facilities can be pollution sources because they create a significant volume of wastewater, which contains a variety of hazardous microorganisms, toxic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other substances. Dyes, one of the biological wastes present in hospital wastewater, should be treated since they cause environmental issues as well as health problems in humans. However, treating the dyes in wastewater requires a significant financial investment as well as a significant amount of time. As a result, photocatalytic dye degradation is a promising alternative approach for removing dyes from wastewater while also reducing the cost and time required for wastewater treatment. The purpose of this research is to investigate the photocatalytic efficacy of Fe3O4/In(OH)3 towards harmful dyes when exposed to UVC light. Iron oxide/indium hydroxide nanocomposites (Fe3O4/In(OH)3) are effectively produced using precipitation of In(OH)3 followed by chemical reduction, a more environmentally friendly chemistry approach. The crystalline structure, morphology, optical characteristics, magnetic properties, particle size, and zeta potential of the Fe3O4/In(OH)3 nanocomposites were all studied. As a consequence, synthetic Fe3O4/In(OH)3 displayed In(OH)3 nanorod shape and Fe3O4 small spherical form. According to the Tauc's plot, the band gap of Fe3O4/In(OH)3 reduced from 4.70eV to 3.84eV, showing a significant improvement in UV light absorption by using lesser energy. Furthermore, Fe3O4/In(OH)3 is discovered to have superparamagnetic characteristics, allowing it to be easily recovered and reused from the solution. The research study on photocatalytic degradation revealed a significant efficiency in degrading MB dyes under UVC irradiation.