Photocatalytic degradation of acid green 25 utilizing sol gel derived TiO2 photocatalyst supported on montmorillonite
Abstract
Photocatalysis is a technique that can be useful for the treatment of wastewater from
the textile industry and its advantages may make it suitable for commercialization. The
photocatalytic degradation of dye Acid Green 25 (AG25) by using titanium dioxide (TiO2)
catalyst was studied under UV irradiation. TiO2 catalyst exhibits good adsorption ability for
the polar structure. Supports make the catalyst easily separated from the treated effluent.
Hence, TiO2 immobilized on montmorillonite was successfully synthesized and
immobilized through sol-gel method to improve the ability of photocatalysis process. The
surface morphology of the TiO2 catalyst immobilized on the montmorillonite was
characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the Electron Dispersion XRay
(EDX) analyzer was used to characterize the elemental composition of the immobilized
TiO2. A photocatalytic reactor was successfully designed to function under UV-radiation.
TiO2 photocatalyst was made through the formulation of 1TTIP: 22 i-PrOH: 4 DEA: 2H2O.
The photocatalytic degradation was examined under difference parameters which are
catalyst loading, concentration of AG25 and pH. Maximum degradation increased with
increasing TiO2 concentration up to 2.0g/L TiO2. Degradation decreased with increasing
amount of concentration of AG25. The study indicated that the best degradation of AG25
took place in the acidic condition (i.e = pH 2) in 30ppm concentration of AG25 with 2.0g/L
catalyst.