Cerium-Iron Oxide: An Efficient Photocatalyst for the Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye

Abstract

This study investigates the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue using cerium-iron oxide (Ce-FeO) nanoparticles as efficient photocatalysts. The Ce-FeO nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and their photocatalytic activity was evaluated for the degradation of methylene blue dye by monitoring the degradation of Methylene Blue under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, the effects of various parameters such as the pH of the dye solution, dye concentration, amount of photocatalyst and light intensity on the dye degradation efficiency were investigated. The progress of dye degradation was monitored spectrophotometrically by observing the optical density of the dye solution at regular intervals. Maximum dye degradation was observed with a dye solution of 2.25 x 10^-5 M concentration at 11.5 pH and 700 Wm^-2 light intensity using 0.04g cerium-iron oxide nanoparticles per 50 ml of dye solution. It was observed that Ce-FeO nanoparticles serve as an effective and environmentally friendly photocatalyst for dye degradation under visible light.