Photodecolourization of methylene blue by Fe- and Cd-incorporated titania-supported zeolite clinoptilolite

This study aims to increase the photodecolourization efficiency of TiO2 on methylene blue by preparing TiO2 supported zeolite clinoptilolite catalysts. To do so, three co-catalysts with different TiO2 concentrations and metal-incorporated (Fe and Cd) co-catalysts were synthesized. The photocatalytic performances of these prepared catalysts were examined for the photodecolourization of methylene blue solution under UV irradiation, LED irradiation and no irradiation. Overall, all of the catalysts performed under UV irradiation more efficiently, followed by LED irradiation. The effect of titania concentration on decolourization efficiency was investigated by performing a comparative analysis between raw TiO2, raw ZC, 20-TiO2-ZC, 33-TiO2-ZC, 50-TiO2-ZC, Fe-TiO2-ZC and Cd-TiO2-ZC. The metal-incorporated co-catalysts performed better the TiO2-ZC co-catalysts, which had higher efficiencies than raw TiO2 and raw zeolite. The most efficient co-catalyst was Fe-TiO2-ZC, which was able to completely photodegrade methylene blue in 30 min under UV light. The optimum photodecolourization conditions were found to be when the pH value, initial dye concentration and catalyst amount were 9, 1 x 10-6 M and 0.2 g, respectively. Lastly, the catalysts followed first order kinetics.

Automated summary

This study aims to increase the photodecolourization efficiency of TiO2 on methylene blue by preparing TiO2 supported zeolite clinoptilolite catalysts. Metal-incorporated co-catalysts showed better performance than TiO2-ZC co-catalysts, with Fe-TiO2-ZC being the most efficient co-catalyst.