Study the degradation and photocatalytic activity of the methylene blue dye by mixing the Aloe vera extract with rust iron oxide nanoparticle

Abstract

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have been widely used in environmental applications due to their low cost, safety, and effectiveness. This research successfully produced IONPs by hydrothermally reacting iron rust and Aloe vera gel plant extract at 100 <sup>o</sup>C for 18 hours in an autoclave cell. IONPs were produced to prevent detrimental effects on human health by degrading methylene blue dye (MB). IONPs were characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The small crystalline size (19 nm), and (inverse cubic) structure (magnetite) of (Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> NPs) 600 <sup>o</sup>C were explained by measurements of XRD, whereas small crystalline (Fe902O) NPs of 300 <sup>o</sup>C were of 28 nm. FESEM revealed that the particle size of (Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>) NPs at 600 <sup>o</sup>C using an aloe vera extract was (26.80 to 37.96) nm, whereas Fe902O (wustite) at 300 <sup>o</sup>C was tiny and crystalline at (31.63 to 130.3) nm. The strong absorption band for Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> NPs (magnetites) at 600 °C with aloe vera is explained by the FT-IR spectra. The absorption peak was high at (650) cm<sup>-1</sup> and corresponded to the Fe-O series of Fe902O NPs at 300 <sup>o</sup>C. When the spectra showed the absorption peak, it was strong. Iron oxide NPs have been used for a short time in environmental treatment to remove MB dye. For 40 minutes of IONPs (Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>), the results of degradation effectiveness (95%) were 300 <sup>o</sup>C for MB dye, but degradation efficiency (91%) was 75 minutes of IONPs (Fe902O) with aloe vera at 600 <sup>o</sup>C for MB dye.