VISIBLE LIGHT ASSISTED PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF METHYLENE BLUE USING TITANIUM DIOXIDE PILLARED SILVER-MONTMORILLONITE COMPOSITE IN WATER

Abstract

Water is an easy solvent, enabling most of the pollutants to dissolve in it easily and contaminate it. Now a days industrial wastes mainly organic wastes are the main sources of water pollution. Among the advanced oxidation processes, photocatalysis by semiconducting materials has become a leading technology in the field of environmental cleaning. In the present study a naturally occurring smectite clay, montmorillonite is modified with Ag(I) and TiO₂. The performance of the material was tested in degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation. Dose variation, concentration variation and effect of time of the degradation reactions are done in the study. The catalyst was characterized by FTIR spectra and BET surface area analysis. Due to the excellent sedimentation property after reaction the clay can be easily recovered and reused.