The Composite of ZrO2-TiO2 Produced from Local Zircon Sand Used as A Photocatalyst for The Degradation of Methylene Blue in A Single Batik Dye Wastewater

Abstract

<p>In this research, a composite of ZrO₂-TiO₂ was used as a photocatalyst in the degradation of dye wastewater. The dye waste water is a single Methylene Blue, MB, wastewater from Batik industry. Meanwhile, the ZrO₂ was prepared from zircon sand founded from Bangka Island, Indonesia. The composite was prepared at various weight ratio and heat treated at 500 ^oC. The result shows that the purity of ZrO₂ from zircon sand is only 66.46 %. However, the addition of ZrO₂ into TiO₂ able to increase the photocatalytic activity proven by 88.75 % degradation of MB at a ZrO₂-TiO₂ weight ratio of 1:1. The result is higher than the degradation with anatase TiO₂; that is only 62.67 %. The kinetics study found that the photocatalytic degradation of MB with single TiO₂ has the rate constant of 1.85x10^-2 minutes^-1. Meanwhile, the rate constant of the MB degradation with the composite ZrO₂-TiO₂ is 16.73x10^-2 minutes^-1. Copyright © 2016 BCREC GROUP. All rights reserved</p><p><em>Received: 20^th August 2015; Revised: 13^rd December 2015; Accepted: 30^th December 2015</em></p><p><strong>How to Cite:</strong> Permadani, I., Phasa, D.A., Pratiwi, A.W., Rahmawati, F. (2016). The Composite of ZrO₂-TiO₂ Produced from Local Zircon Sand Used as A Photocatalyst for The Degradation of Methylene Blue in A Single Batik Dye Wastewater. <em>Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering &amp; Catalysis</em>, 11 (2): 133-139. (doi:10.9767/bcrec.11.2.539.133-139)</p><p> <strong>Permalink/DOI</strong>: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.11.2.539.133-139</p>