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Indexed by:期刊论文

Date of Publication:2010-09-01

Journal:FRONTIERS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING IN CHINA

Included Journals:SCIE

Volume:4

Issue:3

Page Number:311-320

ISSN No.:1673-7415

Key Words:sol-gel; multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/TiO2 composite; photocatalysis; azo dye; solar irradiation

Abstract:Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/TiO2 composite photocatalysts with high photoactivity were prepared by sol-gel process and further characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and UV-vis absorption spectra. Compared to pure TiO2, the combination of MWCNTs with titania could cause a significant absorption shift toward the visible region. The photocatalytic performances of the MWCNTs/TiO2 composite catalysts were evaluated for the decomposition of Reactive light yellow K-6G (K-6G) and Mordant black 7 (MB 7) azo dyes solution under solar light irradiation. The results showed that the addition of MWCNTs enhanced the adsorption and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 for the degradation of azo dyes K-6G and MB 7. The effect of MWCNTs content, catalyst dosage, pH, and initial dye concentration were examined as operational parameters. The kinetics of photocatalytic degradation of two dyes was found to follow a pseudo-first-order rate law. The photocatalyst was used for seven cycles with photocatalytic degradation efficiency still higher than 98%. A plausible mechanism is also proposed and discussed on the basis of experimental results.