Decolorization of Methylene Blue withTiO2Sol via UV Irradiation Photocatalytic Degradation

Abstract

TiO2sol was prepared for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The absorption spectra of MB indicated that the maximum wavelength, 663 nm, almost kept the same. The performance of 92.3% for color removal was reached after 160 min. The particle size ofTiO2sol was about 22.5 nm. X-ray diffraction showed thatTiO2consisted of a single anatase phase. The small size and anatase phase probably resulted in high photocatalytic activity ofTiO2sol. The degradation ratio decreased as the initial concentration of MB increased. The photodegradation efficiency decreased in the order ofpH 2>pH 9>pH 7. Regarding catalyst load, the degradation increased with the mass of catalyst up to an amount of 1.5 g⋅L−1then decreased as the mass continued to increase. The addition ofH2O2toTiO2sol resulted in an increase on the degradation ratio.