Effect of alumina on photocatalytic activity of iron oxides for bisphenol A degradation

Abstract

To study the photodegradation of organic pollutants at the interface of minerals and water in natural environment, three series of alumina-coupled iron oxides (Al?O?¡VFe?O?-300, Al?O?¡VFe?O?-420, and Al?O?¡VFe?O?3-550) with different alumina fraction were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer¡VEmmett¡VTeller (BET) and Barret¡VJoyner¡VHalender (BJH), and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR). The XRD results showed that existence of alumina in iron oxides could hinder the formation of maghemite and hematite, and also the crystal transformation from maghemite to hematite during sintering. It has been confirmed that the BET surface area and micropore surface area of Al?O?¡VFe?O?catalysts increased with an increased dosage of alumina and with decreased sintering temperature. The pore size distribution also depended on the fraction of alumina. Furthermore, all Al?O?¡VFe?O?catalysts had a mixed pore structure of micropore, mesopore and macropore. FTIR results showed that FTIR peaks attributable to Fe¡VO vibrations of magh