Extraction and Characterization of Fe2O3 from Red Mud PT. Indonesia Chemical Alumina West Kalimantan

Abstract

Red Mud is a term used for residues or waste materials from bauxite refining. One of the main compositions of red mud is Fe₂O₃. This study aims to obtain the optimum extraction of Fe₂O₃ conditions or hematite by using APDC ligands and knowing the characteristics of Fe₂O₃ generated. In this study, Fe₂O₃ extraction begins to determine the optimum pH and ligand concentration. The results of determining the optimum conditions showed pH 1 and ligand concentration of 0.5 M. Fe₂O₃ characteristics can be resolve through the characterization of Fourier Transformed Infra Red (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). The results of FTIR characterization showed the stretching vibration of Fe-O Fe₂O₃ phase (570.50 cm^-1 and 470.20 cm^-1), XRD diffractogram showed the resulting crystal shape is rhombohedralsize is 27,08 nm, while the XRF characterization results showed the mass percent Fe₂O₃ before extraction is 42.48% and the mass percent Fe₂O₃ after extraction is 72.443%.