Enhancement of methylene blue photo-degeneration by TiO2/Carbon aerogel catalyst

In this study, TiO2/Carbon aerogel material (TiO2/CA) synthesized by the sol-gel method has improved TiO2 photocatalytic activity by trapping electrons and increasing the specific surface area. The success of material synthesis was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Nitrogen physisorption, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In particular, in TiO2/CA sample, the uniform distributions of C, O, and Ti elements and the higher BET surface area compared with TiO2 one have expressed the role of carbon aerogel carrier and the idea's correctness. Methylene Blue photo degeneration process happened under the following conditions: 3 UV-lamps (8 W per one), 0.015 g sample, and 50 ml MB solution 15 ppm, which showed a significant increase in the adsorption capacity, photocatalytic degradation, and the dynamic reaction of TiO2/CA compared with initial TiO2. Specifically, the MB degrading performance was up to 89% for the TiO2/CA - more than 1.37 times as much as the TiO2 sample, where the adsorption efficiency alone was about 11 times.