%0 Journal Article
%A Alcaraz, Lorena
%A Urbieta Quiroga, Ana Irene
%A Fernández Sánchez, Paloma
%A López, Félix A.
%T Photocatalytic activity of electric-arc furnace flue dusts
%D 2020
%@ 2238-7854
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6231
%X Two electric-arc furnace flue dusts, a waste generated during the steel production process, were characterized and their photocatalytic activity was assessed. Chemical composition by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis identified that both dusts were principally formed by iron, zinc and chromium oxides. Structural characterization carried out by X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), and micro-Raman measurements demonstrated that ZnFe_2O_4 (zinc ferrite), FeCr_2O_4 (chromite) and ZnO (zincite) are present in both waste dusts as majority phases. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that both dusts are formed by nanoparticles with a globular and octahedral morphology characteristic of the type of flue dusts formation and the obtained phases. Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra show the characteristics bands of spinel structure (ZnFe_2O_4) and Fe^(3+) emission. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements indicate that Fe ions could be present in 2+ and 3+ oxidation state in the spinel structure, while zinc and chromium ions are in 2+ and 3+, respectively. In addition, the photocatalytic experiments demonstrated that the analyzed samples could be useful as photocatalyzed showing a degradation percentage above 75 %.
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