Abstract—Environmental pollution from wastewater
containing dyes has emerged as a significant issue, necessitating
research to identify effective catalysts to address this problem.
The present study investigation generated a
bentonite/Fe₃O₄@NiO composite as a photocatalyst for the
degradation of Methylene blue dye. The composite was
examined utilizing X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning
Electron Microscope with Energy-Dispersive X-ray
Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), UV-vis Diffuse Reflectance
Spectroscopy (UV-DRS), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer
(VSM), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR).
The bentonite/Fe₃O₄@NiO composite exhibits magnetic
properties by a saturation magnetization value of 51.02 emu/g.
With a low band gap of 1.96 eV, this composite is active in the
visible light region. NiO supported on bentonite/Fe₃O₄ enhances
degrading efficiency relative to bentonite/Fe₃O₄. The
degradation efficiency attained 99.35% under visible light
irradiation with optimal conditions: 0.05 g of catalyst, 20 mg/L
Methylene blue dye concentration, pH 8, and an irradiation
time of 75 min. The photocatalytic degradation adhered to the
pseudo-first-order model. The bentonite/Fe₃O₄@NiO composite
exhibited remarkable stability, with an efficiency reduction of
merely 5.71% after five reuse cycles. This photocatalyst could
potentially be utilized in the remediation of
wastewater-containing dyes.
Keywords—Bentonite/Fe3O4@NiO composite, photocatalyst,
degradation, visible light, methylene blue dye
Cite: Fahma Riyanti, Hasanudin, Addy Rachmat, Muharni, Eddy Ibrahim, and Poedji Loekitowati Hariani, "High-Performance Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye by NiO-Integrated Bentonite/Fe₃O₄," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 286-292, 2025.
Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).