Abstract:
Currently, the most important issue is the disposal of harmful organic mixes and
compounds from wastewater which is not only dangerous for human life but also for plant
and aquatic life. Among them, most of the pollutants and contaminants are dyes, for
example, methyl blue (MB) released from various textile industries causing unwanted taste,
smell and color in water. Herein, an attempt to enhance the photo response of TiO2 towards
visible irradiation and inhibit recombination of energized e-
/h+
pairs during photocatalytic
reaction, ternary NS-TiO2/CNTs nanocomposite was prepared using sol gel methodology.
The physical and chemical properties of photocatalysts were examined by X-ray
Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Photocatalytic
activity was investigated for discoloration of MB under artificial light. For comparative
purpose, reference catalysts i.e. TiO2, N-doped TiO2, TiO2/CNT and NS co-doped TiO2
were also prepared, characterized and their photocatalytic degradation rates were likewise
compared and assessed. NS-TiO2/CNTs nanocomposite shows (3 times) highest photocatalytic activities than binary composites (N-TiO2, TiO2/CNTs, NS-TiO2) and (4 times)
higher than bare TiO2. The photo degradation results showed that incorporation of dopants
and CNTs in TiO2 lattice facilitated effective separation of charge carriers in N,STiO2/CNTs as carbon nanotubes trap the electrons that further react with hydroxyl radicals
(OH.
) to decompose dyes. This study emphasis the importance of ternary nanocomposite
(NS-TiO2/CNTs) as highly-efficient and visible-active photo catalyst for the elimination of
dyes.
