Hematite is widely used as a catalyst in a photo-Fenton-like process for the oxidation of dyes. We report on the electrochemical synthesis of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. The structure, morphology, chemical composition, and surface chemical state of the catalyst, as well as its optical and magnetic properties, were thoroughly characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), shift combination scattering spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). It was found that the crystal size was 63.9 nm. It was shown that the presence of Fe2+ on the surface was due to oxygen vacancies rather than impurity phases. The optical bandgap was determined to be 1.87 eV. Nanoparticles exhibit weak ferromagnetic behavior with a magnetization of 1.09 emu/g at maximum applied magnetic field 1 kOe. The catalytic activity in the photo-Fenton-like process for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye was investigated, and the effect of working parameters, including H2O2 concentration, catalyst concentration, and RhB concentration, on the degradation efficiency was studied. The maximum degradation rate was 99.15 % in 12 min under optimal conditions. The catalyst showed long-term stability over 5 repeated cycles.
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