Facile synthesis of FeO nanoparticles from Egyptian insecticide cans for efficient photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and crystal violet dyes.

In this study, FeO (hematite) nanoparticles with different crystallite sizes (40-59 nm) were synthesized from Egyptian insecticide cans using the combustion method. The organic fuels were urea, glycine, L-alanine, and L-valine. FeO nanoparticles were characterized utilizing different devices such as BET, PL, FT-IR, XRD, HR-TEM, FE-SEM, UV-Vis, and DTG. Crystal violet (CV) and methylene blue (MB) dyes were efficiently removed from aqueous solution by photocatalytic degradation under UV irradiation in the presence of FeO and HO. The % degradation of 50 mL crystal violet or methylene blue dye (20 mg/L) using 0.1 g FeO in the presence of HO was 100% after 30 or 40 min, respectively. Also, the degradation processes are fitted well with the first order model. Besides, the photocatalytic activity of FeO unaltered even after it was reused three times. Hence, the synthesized FeO nanoparticles can be considered a promising and efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of crystal violet and methylene blue dyes.