Enhanced Ponceau‐4R and Brilliant Blue Degradation using Mesoporous TiO₂ Nanoparticles with Activated Carbon as Support Material

Abstract

Biomass wastes are inexpensive and readily available to be converted to activated carbon (AC) support material for photocatalysts. This work first synthesized the AC from tamarind fruit shells and then dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles onto the AC to generate AC/TiO2 composites via the ultrasonic‐assisted sol‐gel method. Most TiO2 nanoparticles were uniformly distributed and deposited onto the AC, forming four stable different AC/TiO2 composites. Compared to the pure TiO2 (i. e., 177.19 m2 g−1), the optimal AC/TiO2 (1 : 5) composite exhibited significantly higher specific surface area (i. e., 281.43 m2 g−1). TiO2 anatase phase in the composite enhanced the photocatalytic activity. AC/TiO2 (1 : 5) also exhibited the Pseudo‐Second‐Order Type 1 model, yielding the best dye degradation kinetic fitting of up to 98.4 % under ultraviolet (UV) light. A possible photocatalytic mechanism of dye degradation was proposed. This work provides insights into synthesizing a TiO2 composite using a low‐cost and readily available AC as a support material to promote the photocatalytic activity.