Photocatalytic decomposition of Congo red under visible light irradiation using MgZnCr-TiO2 layered double hydroxide

The new nanophotocatalyst MgZnCr-TiO2 was prepared by co-precipitation under different molar ratio of metals (Zn:Cr) and the loaded amount of TiO2. And it was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy et al. Langmuir model fitted well the adsorption isotherm with the value of R-2 0.9765, the maximum adsorption capacity was 526.32 mg g(-1), the adsorption followed pseudo second order kinetic by MgZnCr-TiO2 (1:1:2-0.05). The photocatalytic oxidation of Congo red was used to determine the photocatalytic performance of MgZnCr-TiO2 (1:1:2 0.05) under visible light irradiation, and the removal rate reached 98% after reaction for 40 min. The degradation mechanism of Congo red also was proposed, and the MgZnCr-TiO2 (1:1:2-0.05) was stable after five cycles. Compared to the adsorption, Congo red was removed fundamentally by photocatalysis and it is expected to be an effective way to eliminate Congo red. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.