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Photocatalytic Degradation of Phenol and Methyl Orange with Titania-Based Photocatalysts Synthesized by Various Methods in Comparison with ZnO–Graphene Oxide Composite

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Abstract

Photocatalysis is one of the effective methods to treat wastewater and degrade pollutants. Titania (TiO2) is usually chosen based on its superior properties and its high performance as reported in many publications. However, the properties of TiO2 may be influenced by the synthesis method. In this work, several methods were applied to synthesize TiO2, and its modified form (composite with graphene oxide) to explore the influence of synthesis method on its photocatalytic activity for the methyl orange and phenol degradation under UV light illumination. The results showed that the synthesis method significantly influences on the morphology, particle sizes and surface area of the catalysts as examined by SEM and BET techniques but did not differentiate crystal structure and crystallite dimensions of catalysts as seen by XRD measurement. TiO2 catalyst synthesized by hydrothermal method using P123 template was almost anatase phase, possessed high surface area (110 m2/g) and exhibited highest activity for methyl orange and phenol degradation under UV light illumination. However, the addition of graphene oxide to the catalyst is not yet able to improve its activity under visible light. Compared with ZnO-graphene oxide photocatalyst (almost 100% phenol degraded after 275 min of the treatment), TiO2-graphene oxide catalyst exhibited much less activity for methyl orange and phenol degradation under visible light irradiation.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted at the Catalysis Lab, Chemical Engineering of National Taiwan University (NTU) supported by Taiwan MOST Project No.108-2221-E-002-11-MY3, and the RoHan Laboratory of Catalysis supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD, No. 57315854) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) inside the framework “SDG Bilateral Graduate school programme”. Nguyen Trung Hieu thanks for a PhD scholarship from RoHan program, and the financial support from NTU.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Trung Hieu Nguyen, Anh Tuan Vu & Minh Thang Le

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Van Han Dang & Jeffrey Chi-Sheng Wu

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  1. Trung Hieu Nguyen
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Correspondence to Jeffrey Chi-Sheng Wu or Minh Thang Le.

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Nguyen, T.H., Vu, A.T., Dang, V.H. et al. Photocatalytic Degradation of Phenol and Methyl Orange with Titania-Based Photocatalysts Synthesized by Various Methods in Comparison with ZnO–Graphene Oxide Composite. Top Catal 63, 1215–1226 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-020-01361-5

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