Photodegradation of methyl orange dye by using Azadirachta indica and chemically mediated synthesized cobalt doped α-Fe2O3 NPs through co-precipitation method

Abstract

In current study, the Co-precipitation method was successfully used for the synthesis of Cobalt (Co) doped hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles (NPs). The synthesized Co-doped α-Fe2O3 NPs were analyzed by various characterization techniques. The chemical and greenly synthesizedα-Fe2O3 NPs had an average crystallite size of 22.63 and 16.02 nm as analyzed by XRD respectively. The Raman peaks marks the crystalline nature and hematite phase of Fe2O3 nanoparticles. The spherical shape of the Co-doped α-Fe2O3 NPs in both chemical and green methods is determined by the SEM pictures. UV–visible absorption studies marked the values of band gap i.e. 2.28 and 2.61 eV for chemical and green synthesized Co-doped α-Fe2O3 respectively. By employing the use of methyl orange dye, the photocatalytic action of α-Fe2O3 NPs was analyzed. The findings have shown that an appropriate amount of Co-dopant can significantly lead into an increase in the number of hydroxyl radicals produced from α-Fe2O3 NPs. They cause increase the methyl orange dye degradation rate. The results have shown that Azadirachta indica extract has the potential to produce α-Fe2O3-NPs in an environmentally safe manner. This research concluded that the α-Fe2O3 NPs have better photocatalytic potential with aqueous Azadirachta indica leaves extract.