Titania modified activated carbon prepared from sugarcane bagasse: adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation

ABSTRACT

Activated carbon (AC), prepared from sugarcane bagasse waste through a low-temperature chemical carbonization treatment, was used as a support for nano-TiO₂. TiO₂ supported on AC (xTiO₂–AC) catalysts (x = 10, 20, 50, and 70 wt.%) were prepared through a mechano-mixing method. The photocatalysts were characterized by Raman, X-ray diffraction analysis, FTIR, S_BET, field emission scanning electron microscope, and optical technique. The adsorption and photo-activity of the prepared catalysts (xTiO₂–AC) were evaluated using methylene blue (MB) dye. The photocatalytic degradation of MB was evaluated under UVC irradiation and visible light. The degradation percentage of the 100 ppm MB at neutral pH using 20TiO₂–AC reaches 96 and 91 after 180 min under visible light and UV irradiation, respectively. In other words, these catalysts are more active under visible light than under UV light irradiation, opening the possibility of using solar light for this application.

KEYWORDS:

• Activated carbon
• methylene blue
• photocatalytic degradation
• TiO₂
• visible light

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

R. A. El-Salamony http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7162-7327

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI) Labs and Instruments.