Fabrication of TiO(2) Spheres and a Visible Light Active α-Fe(2)O(3)/TiO(2)-Rutile/TiO(2)-Anatase Heterogeneous Photocatalyst from Natural Ilmenite

[Image: see text] High-purity (98.8%, TiO(2)) rutile nanoparticles were successfully synthesized using ilmenite sand as the initial titanium source. This novel synthesis method was cost-effective and straightforward due to the absence of the traditional gravity, magnetic, electrostatic separation, ball milling, and smelting processes. Synthesized TiO(2) nanoparticles were 99% pure. Also, highly corrosive environmentally hazardous acid leachate generated during the leaching process of ilmenite sand was effectively converted into a highly efficient visible light active photocatalyst. The prepared photocatalyst system consists of anatase-TiO(2)/rutile-TiO(2)/Fe(2)O(3) (TF-800), rutile-TiO(2)/Fe(2)TiO(5) (TFTO-800), and anatase-TiO(2)/Fe(3)O(4) (TF-450) nanocomposites, respectively. The pseudo-second-order adsorption rate of the TF-800 ternary nanocomposite was 0.126 g mg(–1) min(–1) in dark conditions, and a 0.044 min(–1) visible light initial photodegradation rate was exhibited. The TFTO-800 binary nanocomposite adsorbed methylene blue (MB) following pseudo-second-order adsorption (0.224 g mg(–1) min(–1)) in the dark, and the rate constant for photodegradation of MB in visible light was 0.006 min(–1). The prepared TF-450 nanocomposite did not display excellent adsorptive and photocatalytic performances throughout the experiment period. The synthesized TF-800 and TFTO-800 were able to degrade 93.1 and 49.8% of a 100 mL, 10 ppm MB dye solution within 180 min, respectively.