Highly active mesoporous SiO2-TiO2 based nanocomposites for photocatalytic degradation of textile dyes and phenol

Abstract

KEYWORDSTitania-silica nanocomposites (20% SiO2-TiO2, 30% SiO2-TiO2, 40% SiO2-TiO2 and 50 % SiO2-TiO2) with tailored morphology and tunable band energy have been synthesized successfully via micro emulsion method. The morphology, chemical composition, band gap energy and stability of prepared nanocomposites were investigated by XRD, SEM/EDX, FT-IR, DRS and TGA. While textural parameters such as surface area, pore volume, and pore diameter were evaluated by nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The prepared nanocomposites were employed for photocatalytic degradation of phenol and dyes (methyl yellow, auramine O, turquoise blue G) under visible light irradiations. The results of photocatalytic degradation and kinetic parameter (Kapp) strongly suggest that 20% SiO2-TiO2 showed remarkable photocatalytic efficiency in comparison to SiO2-TiO2 nanocomposites with high silica contents. These findings proved significantly that 20% SiO2-TiO2 have marked impact on the photocatalytic efficiency due to its high pore volume, more diameter, high availability of anatase TiO2 in nanocomposite and reduced bandgap energy.Band gap Microemulsion Kinetic parameter Percent degradation Photocatalytic activity SiO2-TiO2 nanocomposite

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