Synergistic Effect of Selenium Dioxide for Better Photocatalytic Performance of Conventional Semiconductors Distributed into Mesoporous SBA‐15

Abstract

The mesoporous SBA‐15 was synthesized in acidic conditions by hydrothermal method using Pluronic surfactant P123. A combination of SeO2, TiO2, and CuO was loaded in SBA‐15 in pairs or singly. Synthesized SBA‐15 and some loaded mesoporous materials were characterized using several standard techniques. The efficiency of the synthesized photocatalysts was verified for the decomposition of two different dyes (methylene blue (MB) and methyl green (MG)) under ultraviolet and visible light radiation. The results show that the synthesized photocatalyst based on SBA‐15 with 5 % by weight of TiO2 and 5 % by weight of SeO2 has better performance (about 98 % of MB or MG were degraded within 120 min under UV radiation). Also, the photocatalyst with 5 % by weight of SeO2 and 5 % by weight of CuO shows a good performance for the degradation of the dyes under visible irradiation in the presence of H2O2 (complete elimination of MB and MG within 150 and 75 min, respectively). The scavenging test shows that superoxide has a governing role for the degradation of the dyes. The photocatalysts are reusable and they could preserve more than 74 % of the efficiency following 4 times of consecutive use for the degradation of the dyes.