Effect of Fe doping on photocatalytic activity of B2O3 processed using polyvinyl borate precursor

Abstract

In this study, boron oxide (B2O3) powder has been synthesized by the pyrolysis of polyvinyl borate precursor in air. For this purpose, polyvinyl borate precursor was synthesized through the condensation reaction of polyvinyl alcohol and boric acid, and then the polymeric precursor was pyrolyzed at 500°C. The as-prepared B2O3 particles were doped with iron (Fe) ions using the wet impregnation method. The photocatalytic activity of both undoped B2O3 and iron doped B2O3 (Fe-B2O3) powders was studied by investigating the degradation of the model dye, methylene blue, under UV light irradiation. It was pointed out that iron doped B2O3 powder exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to undoped one. In addition, various techniques of characterization such as FTIR, XRD, FESEM, EDX and UV–Vis spectroscopy were performed to confirm the synthesis of B2O3 particles and the presence of iron ions in the crystal structure of the prepared photocatalyst. The novelty of this study was to research the photocatalytic performance of both B2O3 and Fe-B2O3 photocatalysts.