The rapid removal of organic textile dye (Acid Red-85) using mesoporous TiO2–SiO2 monoliths as photocatalyst material has been studied. The 7:3 mole% ratios of TiO2 and SiO2 within the framework provided a well-ordered cage-like monolithic design with high surface area and pore volume that facilitated faster and efficient degradation of the dye effluents. The photocatalyst has been characterized using XRD, TEM-SAED, UV–Vis-DRS, PL, TGA and BET analysis. The influence of various photocatalytic operational parameters, such as solution pH, dopant stoichiometry, catalyst dosage, dye concentration, kinetics, photo-oxidizers, etc., which could influence on the degradation efficiency, has been studied.

Prabhakaran D

Department of Chemistry

School of Advanced Sciences

Vellore Campus

Akhila Maheswari M

Thejaswini T.V.L

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

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VIT University

Structurally engineered TiO2–SiO2 monolithic designs for the enhanced photocatalytic degradation of organic textile dye pollutants

Functional Materials Letters

The current article reports on the synthesis of a thermally stable mesoporous worm-like ZrO2 doped TiO2 monolith materials through a neutral templating route. The controlled thermal treatment facilitates clean removal of organic templates, resulting in a stable and well-defined porous framework. The ZrO2 doped TiO2 monoliths serve as an efficient and reusable photocatalyst materials for the photodegradation of Naphthol Green B (NG-B), a widely employed organic dye stain, within 10 min of irradiation time frame. The synthesized monoliths are characterized using techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) spectroscopy, selected area electron diffractometry (SAED), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry (UV–vis–DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PLS), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) adsorption isotherm. The XRD analysis confirms the retention of anatase phase by the ZrO2 doped TiO2 monoliths and also the mesoporous structure. The DRS and PLS analysis indicate that the ZrO2 doped TiO2 monoliths exhibit band gap narrowing in comparison to pure TiO2 monoliths, with improved quantum yield and photocatalytic efficiency. The BET analysis reveals a surface area and pore volume value of 80.2 m2/g and 8.1 nm, respectively, for ZrO2-TiO2 monolith materials. We have also investigated on the influence of solution pH, dye concentration, dopant stoichiometry, photocatalyst dosage and photo-additives on the photocatalysis process. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry

Synthesis of mesoporous worm-like ZrO 2 –TiO 2 monoliths and their photocatalytic applications towards organic dye degradation

The present work deals with the synthesis of bi-continuous macro and mesoporous crack-free titania–silica monoliths, with well-defined structural dimensions and high surface area. The work also highlights their potential photocatalytic environmental applications. The highly ordered titania–silica monoliths are synthesized through direct surface template method using organic precursors of silica and titania in the presence of surface directing agents such as pluronic P123 and PEG, under acetic acid medium. The monoliths are synthesized with different Ti/Si ratios to obtain monolithic designs that exhibit better photocatalytic activity for dye degradation. The titania–silica monoliths are characterized using XRD, SEM, EDAX, FT-IR, TG–DTA and BET analysis. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized monoliths is tested on the photodegradation of a textile dye (acid blue 113). It is observed that the monolith with 7:3 ratio of Ti/Si showed significant photocatalysis behavior in the presence of UV light. The influence of various physico-chemical properties such as, solution pH, photocatalyst dosage, light intensity, dye concentration, effect of oxidants, etc. are analyzed and optimized using a customized photoreactor set-up. Under optimized conditions, the monoliths exhibited superior degradation kinetics, with the dye dissipation complete within 10[Formula: see text]min of photolysis. The mesoporous catalysts are recoverable and reusable up to four cycles of repeated usage.

International Journal of Nanoscience

Synthesis of Mesoporous Titania–Silica Monolith Composites — A Comprehensive Study on their Photocatalytic Degradation of Acid Blue 113 Dye Under UV Light

Key Engineering Materials

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.706

Microporous and Mesoporous Materials

Titania-silica monolithic multichannel microreactors. Proof of concept and fabrication/structure/catalytic properties in the oxidation of 2,3,6-trimethylphenol

Journal of Nonlinear Sciences and Applications

A study of some properties of an n-order functional inclusion

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

Issue Publication Information

Journal	Functional Materials Letters
Publisher	World Scientific Pub Co Pte Lt
ISSN	1793-6047
Open Access	0