Adsorption and Photodegradation of Ibuprofen through Green Synthesis of Hexagonal Hematite (α-Fe2O3) Flakes Using Pluronic F127-Gelatin Template

The present study highlights about green synthesis of hexagonal hematite (α- Fe2O3) Flakes using a Pluronic F127-Gelatin Template for adsorption and photo degradation of Ibuprofen. The α-Fe2O3 flakes were utilized as adsorbent and photocatalyst for the removal of ibuprofen as pharmaceutical waste. Hematite (α-Fe2O3) with uniform hexagonal flake morphology has been successfully synthesized using a combination of natural (gelatin) and synthetic (Pluronic F127) templates via hydrothermal method. Hematite structure resembles corundum, in which the Fe3+ cations are connected to the octahedral oxygen via the covalent bonds in a hexagonal closed packing crystal system. The obtained hematite was investigated as an adsorbent and photocatalyst for the removal of ibuprofen pharmaceutical waste. Hexagonal flake-like hematite with average sizes of 1–3 µm was obtained at the calcination temperature of 500°C. Increasing the calcination temperature to 700°C transformed the uniform hexagonal structure into cubic shape morphology. Hematite also exhibited high thermal stability with increasing calcination temperatures. Still, the surface area was reduced from 47 m2/g to 9 m2/g. FTIR analysis further confirmed the formation of Fe-O-Fe bonds. Meanwhile, the main constituent elements of Fe and O were observed in EDX analysis for all samples. α-Fe2O3 samples had an average adsorption capacity of 55–25.5 mg/g with 12–22% removal efficiency when used as an adsorbent for ibuprofen. Because the hexagonal flakes' accessible surface area decreased as they transformed into cubes, the adsorption capacity decreased as the calcination temperatures rose. Hematite flakes were used in the photocatalytic degradation of ibuprofen to obtain a 50% removal efficiency. In water/hexane combinations, adsorption and photocatalytic degradation worked together to further remove 80% of the drug. The efficiency of the adsorption was strongly dependent upon the surface area of iron oxide. The combination of photocatalytic degradation and adsorption for the removal of ibuprofen using iron oxide resulted in an increase in the removal efficiency of up to 80% under UV light irradiation.