Spectrophotometric evaluation of the photocatalytic degradation of formaldehyde by Fe2O3–TiO2 nano hybrid

Photocatalytic capabilities of sol–gel synthesized Fe2O3–TiO2 nano hybrid was investigated in degradation of formaldehyde in presence of ultra violet and visible irradiation. The reaction stream was evaluated by UV–vis spectrophotometry at 330–500 nm spectral region, using Fluoral-P (4-amino-3-penten-2-one) as a complexing agent. Obtained results confirmed the effective role of Fe2O3 phase in nano hybrid for degradation of formaldehyde according to Baeyer–Villiger reaction. On the other hand TiO2 would play the role of photocatalyst in presence of UV ray. Nano hybrid assisted process was monitored by spectrophotometry, utilizing multivariate curve resolution chemometric technique.