Characterization and Photocatalytic Evaluation of Fe-Loaded Mesoporous MCM-41 Prepared Using Iron and Silicon Sources Extracted from Iron Ore Tailing

The objective of this study was to recover valuable elements such as iron and silicon from iron ore tailings and convert them into value-added mesoporous materials such as MCM-41 and Fe-loaded MCM-41 (Fe/MCM-41). The synthesized samples were systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption measurements, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the MCM-41 structure was well-preserved after Fe loading, but its specific surface area decreased. The photocatalytic activity of Fe/MCM-41 toward the degradation of methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution was evaluated. The results indicated that all the Fe/MCM-41 samples (with different Fe loadings) were effective for the degradation of MB under visible-light irradiation and that the Fe/MCM-41 sample with Fe content of 5% exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity.