Optimisation of TiO₂ synthesis from ilmenite sand and its application in the photocatalytic process

ABSTRACT

Iron sand, a mineral, can be extracted to produce titanium dioxide (TiO₂). TiO₂ is a semiconductor material that is commonly used in photocatalytic applications, as well as electronics, colour pigments, paint manufacturing, and semiconductors. In this study, TiO₂ was extracted from Banten ilmenite sand using caustic fusion and hydrometallurgical methods. The TiO₂ extraction process was carried out by varying the mole ratio of ilmenite sand to NaOH, which was 1:0, 1:3, and 1:5, and the fusion temperatures were 700°C and 850°C, with time variations of 30, 60, and 90 min. XRF analysis revealed that the highest TiO₂ composition was 91.64% in samples with a mole ratio of 1:3 during 30 min of fusion time and 91.14% in samples with a mole ratio of 1:5 during 90 min of fusion time. The XRD data revealed that TiO₂ has a rutile phase with a tetragonal structure, while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that the particle distribution in the sample is not uniform. The UV-Vis measurements revealed that TiO₂ has a band gap of 3.10 at 700°C and 3.13 at 850°C. Furthermore, TiO₂ degraded Rhodamine B dyes at a rate of 28.266%.

KEYWORDS:

• Caustic fusion
• iron sand
• photocatalysis
• TiO₂ synthesis

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the Research Center for Mining Technology-National Research and Innovation Agency (PRTPB-BRIN) and Institut Teknologi Sumatera for providing the research grant No. B/763w/IT9.C1/PT.01.03/2022 through “Hibah Penelitian ITERA 2022”.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).