Enhancing photocatalytic activity of Fe2O3/TiO2 with gelatin: A fuzzy logic analysis of mesoporosity and iron loading

The synthesis of mesoporous Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ heterostructures using a P123-Gelatin hybrid template has been investigated for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under visible light. The study focused on the effect of gelatin concentration on mesoporosity, iron content, particle size, and surface area of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂. The results showed that the Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ composites exhibited superior photocatalytic activity compared to individual TiO₂ and Fe₂O₃. This enhancement was attributed to the optimized gelatin concentration, which increases mesoporosity and Fe₂O₃ incorporation, facilitating efficient electron transfer and photo-electron conversion for methylene blue oxidation. Additionally, a fuzzy logic analysis was conducted to correlate the physicochemical properties of the composites with their photocatalytic activities. This analysis identified iron loading and mesoporosity as theion dominant factors affecting photocatalytic efficiency, with a high correlation coefficient. The study concluded that mesoporous Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ synthesized with the P123-Gelatin template significantly improves methylene blue degradation. This improvement is primarily due to the synergistic effect of large pore diameter and Fe³⁺/Ti⁴⁺ interaction. The fuzzy logic model provided accurate predictions, confirming the critical role of iron loading and mesoporosity in enhancing photocatalytic performance.