Minerals 2022, 12, 1417. https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111417 www.mdpi.com/journal/minerals Article UV and Visible Light Induced Photodegradation of Reactive Red 198 Dye and Textile Factory Wastewater on Fe2O3/Bentonite/TiO2 Nanocomposite Shakiba Mohammadhosseini 1 , Tariq J. Al-Musawi 2 , Rosario Mireya Romero-Parra 3 , Mutaz Qutob 4 , M. Abdulfadhil Gatea 5 , Fatemeh Ganji 6 and Davoud Balarak 7, * 1 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Mazandaran 4815733971, Iran 2 Building and Construction Techniques Engineering Department, Al-Mustaqbal University College, Hillah 51001, Iraq 3 Department of General Studies, Continental University, Lima 15304, Perú 4 Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Isra University, Amman 11622, Jordan 5 Technical Engineering Department College of Technical Engineering, The Islamic University, Najaf 54001, Iraq 6 Student research committee, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan 9816743463, Iran 7 Department of Environmental Health, Health Promotion Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan 9816743463, Iran * Correspondence: dbalarak2@gmail.com Abstract: In the present study, the objective was to probe the capacity of the Fe2O3/Bentonite/TiO2 (Fe2O3/B/TiO2) nanoparticles to act as a catalyst in degrading the reactive red 198 (RR198) dye and textile factory wastewater, utilizing irradiation with visible and UV light. The efficiency of this deg- radation was studied for a variety of experimental parameters by employing real samples of textile wastewater. After 60 min of reaction time, complete degradation of the target pollutant was visible using the synthesized catalyst, i.e., Fe2O3/B/TiO2, under UV light; the same effect was noted after 90 min under visible light. Further, the ease of separation and quick collection of the synthesized Fe2O3/B/TiO2 can result in keeping the photocatalytic efficiency high, as well as raising the reusabil- ity. The photocatalytic processes under UV and visible light were found capable of converting the non-biodegradable textile wastewater into biodegradable one. Besides, with the introduction of Daphnia manga, the toxicity of the effluent was examined. Through photocatalysis, utilizing both techniques, the dye toxicity in the solution was fully neutralized, and the intensity of toxicity of the textile effluent was lowered by around 70%. The conclusion drawn in this study showed that the synthesized catalyst displayed good efficiency in removing organic compounds from the textile ef- fluents by both photocatalytic processes using UV and visible light. Keywords: textile wastewater; degradation; reactive red 198 dye; Fe2O3/B/TiO2 catalyst; photocatalytic process 1. Introduction The rapid growth in the global population, coupled with the alarming reduction in drinking water resources, has become a grave concern in terms of the drinking water sup- ply requirements of several countries worldwide [1,2]. Water scarcity, observed at a global level, has intensified due to the escalation in environmental pollution and made the sup- ply of sanitary water for the populace one of the foremost issues today [3,4]. The wastewater released by the textile industry processes often contains a large variety of dyes and chemicals [5,6]. Most of the dyes employed in this industry are non-biodegradable because they form strong complexes [7,8]. Under anaerobic conditions, a few of the dyes Citation: Hosseini, S.M.; Al-Musawi, T.J.; Parra, R.M.R.; Qutob, M.; Gatea, A.; Ganji, F.; Balarak, D. UV and Vis- ible Light-Induced Photodegrada- tion of Reactive Red 198 Dye and Textile Factory Wastewater on Fe2O3/ Bentonite/Tio2 Nanocompo- site. Minerals 2022, 12, 1417. https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111417 Academic Editor: Luciana Sciascia Received: 16 September 2022 Accepted: 5 November 2022 Published: 8 November 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- tral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Li- censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons At- tribution (CC BY) license (https://cre- ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).