Synthesis and Characterization of TiO2 Nanoparticles Deposited on Porous Carbon Material for Dye Removal by Absorption and Photocatalytic Processes

Abstract

The disappearance of Methyl Orange (MO), Azo dye, in west water was studied using an absorption property from porous carbon and photocatalytic dye degradation using TiO₂ nanoparticles. Anatase TiO₂ was impregnated on porous carbon by a wet chemical process and post heat treatment at 400^oC. The titania precursor concentrations, pH of the chemical solutions, and mixing techniques during the TiO₂ impregnation were studied. The MO dye’s degradation using TiO₂ on porous carbon after saturated absorption revealed the porous carbon material’s efficiency supported with TiO₂ nanoparticles for high photocatalytic activity. The degradation reaction was optimized with the catalyst amount. The impregnated porous carbon samples were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The photocatalytic reaction was studied under irradiation of UV light. The XRD, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) results confirmed that the structure of TiO₂ nanoparticles was anatase with high crystallinity and no impurity. The porous carbon substate was amorphous carbon. The average particle diameter of TiO₂ nanoparticles measured by SEM and TEM images was 81 nm. Furthermore, the photocatalytic efficiency of as-synthesized samples was 95%, where 100 ml of 5 ppm methyl orange was used as initial concentration with 0.1 g of catalyst dosing for 6 hr under UV irradiation.