Eco-friendly and solar light-active Ti-Fe(2)O(3) ellipsoidal capsules’ nanostructure for removal of herbicides and organic dyes

In this work, Ti-doped Fe(2)O(3) with hollow ellipsoidal capsules nanostructure has been prepared in a green manner using plant extract (flax seed). This new green hematite nanomaterial has been evaluated as photocatalyst for water treatment by testing its activity for degradation of bromophenol blue dye (BPB) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) herbicide. For a better understanding of the green material properties, a comparison with the pristine Fe(2)O(3) nanospheres previously prepared by the same procedure is included. Structural and optical properties of the green prepared materials are studied. The results revealed the success doping of Ti(4+) at Fe(3+) site, without forming any of TiO(2) phases. It was also found that the Ti doping resulted in the reduction of the band gap of Fe(2)O(3) as well as changing the morphology. The Ti-doped Fe(2)O(3) nanomaterial exhibited an enhanced photocatalytic activity either for BPB dye or for 2,4-D degradation with more than 2 times higher rate than that using pristine Fe(2)O(3). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-23119-0.