Synthesis of Iron Oxide Micro and Nanoparticles from Aluminum Industry Waste and Its Application in the Decolorization of Reactive Blue 235 Dye

Iron oxide micro and nanoparticles were successfully synthesized from Red Mud (RM) using a simple twostep process. RM was characterized using various techniques such as X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Fourier Transform- Infra Red (FTIR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and Carbon Hydrogen Nitrogen (CHN) microanalysis. Red mud derived iron oxide micro and nanoparticles (RIMNP) were characterized using techniques such as XRD, FTIR, SEM/EDX, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM). RIMNP were employed as a Fenton like catalyst for the decolorization of a commonly used textile dye Reactive Blue 235 (RB235) from aqueous solution. The dynamical data obtained at different concentrations of RIMNP fit well with pseudo-second-order kinetic model and 100% dye removal efficiency was obtained at 200 mg L-1 concentration of RIMNP.