Physicochemical and photodegradation characteristics of hematite-biochar nanocomposite prepared from bamboo sawdust

Abstract This work implicates the synthesis of biochar-hematite nanocomposite from bamboo sawdust and its photodegradation characteristic for remazol brilliant blue. The nanocomposite was prepared through a one-step pyrolysis process in a tubular furnace under a flow of nitrogen and impregnation using FeSO4.7H2O and FeCl3.6H2O. The physicochemical properties were characterized by x-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, which confirmed that hematite was successfully identified on the surface of the nanocomposite. The results also show that the nanocomposite is suitable for photodegradation application. The decolorization of remazol brilliant blue is suitable with the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. At pH = 1, initial concentration = 200 mg/L, contact time = 60 minute and nanocomposite dosage 0.4 g/L, the decolorization efficiency reached 96.9%.