Photocatalytic effects of titania supported nanoporous MCM-41 on degradation of methyl orange in the presence of electron acceptors

This study reports on the synthesis and photocatalytic evaluation of nanometer sized titania supported MCM-41 (TiMCM-41) by photodegrading methyl orange in the presence of electron acceptors such as peroxornonosulphate (PMS), peroxodisulphate (PDS) and H2O2 using visible-light irradiation to prove it is a better photocatalyst for advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs). This system is relatively inexpensive, reproducible, extremely stable and efficient in complete degradation of dye in aqueous solution. In order to obtain maximum information about the performance of TiMCM-41 catalyst, we did experiments under different operating conditions, i.e., variation of amount of catalyst, concentration of dye and electron acceptors. In addition to the above, a comparative study on the photocatalytic activities of colloidal TiO2 was also made. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.