Magnetization Study of Iron Sand from Sabang, Indonesia: The Potential of Magnetic Materials in the Photocatalytic Field

The magnetization of iron sand from Anoi Itam beach, Sabang, Indonesia, was investigated through sample test-ing and synthesis using the co-precipitation method. The purpose of this study is to analyze the magnetic proper-ties of iron sand and review its potential in photocatalytic processes. Before being synthesized, the natural ironsand was separated and milled. The iron sand was dissolved in 37% v/v HCl, stirred, and heated for 30 min. Thissolution was filtered and precipitated with 6.5 M NH4OH while stirring and heating for 30 min. The magnetiteformed was washed repeatedly with distilled water until it reached a normal pH, and then dried. Magnetite char-acterization tests were performed using XRF, XRD, VSM, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The test results showed thatthe iron sand had a high magnetic quality with a concentration of 91.17% after the synthesis process. The result-ing magnetite phase structure had a spinal inverse cubic shape, with the highest peak at the Miller index (311).From the VSM test, it is known that the resulting magnetite exists in a soft magnetic form with superparamagnet-ic groups. From optical absorption, magnetite has a gap energy of approximately 2.8 eV. It can be concluded thatthe magnetite from Anoi Itam Sabang has potential as a photocatalytic absorbent in the visible light wavelengthregion