Mohammad Mansouri - Department of metallurgy, Shahid bahonar university of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
Esmaeel Darezereshki - Department of metallurgy, Shahid bahonar university of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
Fatemeh Abdoli Nejhad - Department of metallurgy, Shahid bahonar university of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

The conversion of Fe۲+ to Fe۳+ in order to prepare an oxidizing solution is of particular importance in the hydrometallurgy industry. This conversion process can help to prepare a solution with a specific potential. In this research work, the conversion process of Fe۲+ to Fe۳+ has been tried using sunlight and tungsten oxide photocatalyst. At first, tungsten oxide powder was synthesized from a solution containing tungsten with the help of acetone additive. The characterization showed that this powder combination includes H۰.۲۳WO۳ and WO۳ phases with a band gap of ۴.۴ eV while the bandgap of commercial WO۳ was about ۲.۸ eV. The production of ferric sulfate oxidizing solution with high potential was investigated by this photocatalyst powder exposed to sunlight. This photocatalyst was able to convert ۱۶% of Fe۲+ ions to Fe۳+ within ۶ days under sunlight and increase the solution potential from ۳۴۶ to ۴۱۰ mv.

WO۳, photocatalyst, ferric, acetone, sunlight, solution potential