Utilization of solar energy for the degradation of carbendazim and propiconazole by Fe doped TiO2

Iron (Fe) doped TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by surface impregnation method. The synthesized nano particles were characterized by Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), Electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). The XRD and TEM measurement show that the size of crystallite is in the range of 25-34 nm. The narrowing of band gap energy from 3.2 eV to 2.8 eV and increase in the λmax was confirmed by UV Vis spectrophotometer. The photocatalytic efficiency of the prepared catalyst was evaluated by means of degrading the fungicides carbendazim and propiconazole and analyzed by UV spectrophotometer. Fe synergistically improves the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 under sunlight. The optimum Fe loading in doped TiO2 was observed to be 2 wt% which delivers 98.5% and 92% of carbendazim and propiconazole respectively under sunlight conditions. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction was measured in order to confirm the mineralization of fungicides.