High-purity (98.8%, TiO
2
) rutile nanoparticles
were
successfully synthesized using ilmenite sand as the initial titanium
source. This novel synthesis method was cost-effective and straightforward
due to the absence of the traditional gravity, magnetic, electrostatic
separation, ball milling, and smelting processes. Synthesized TiO
2
nanoparticles were 99% pure. Also, highly corrosive environmentally
hazardous acid leachate generated during the leaching process of ilmenite
sand was effectively converted into a highly efficient visible light
active photocatalyst. The prepared photocatalyst system consists of
anatase-TiO
2
/rutile-TiO
2
/Fe
2
O
3
(TF-800), rutile-TiO
2
/Fe
2
TiO
5
(TFTO-800), and anatase-TiO
2
/Fe
3
O
4
(TF-450) nanocomposites, respectively. The pseudo-second-order adsorption
rate of the TF-800 ternary nanocomposite was 0.126 g mg
–1
min
–1
in dark conditions, and a 0.044 min
–1
visible light initial photodegradation rate was exhibited.
The TFTO-800 binary nanocomposite adsorbed methylene blue (MB) following
pseudo-second-order adsorption (0.224 g mg
–1
min
–1
) in the dark, and the rate constant for photodegradation
of MB in visible light was 0.006 min
–1
. The prepared
TF-450 nanocomposite did not display excellent adsorptive and photocatalytic
performances throughout the experiment period. The synthesized TF-800
and TFTO-800 were able to degrade 93.1 and 49.8% of a 100 mL, 10 ppm
MB dye solution within 180 min, respectively.