Use of TiO2/curcumin nanocomposite material deposited on a cellulosic film for methylene blue photocatalytic degradation under UV light

The objective of this work was to develop a cellulose paper film containing a nanocomposite charge (TiO2/5%-curcumin) that allows the elimination by photocatalysis of methylene blue (MB), an organic dye, from the textile industry. The TiO2/5%-curcumin nanocomposite material was deposited on the cellulose paper by dip-coating. A continuous tubular reactor was designed and used for testing the photocatalytic degradation of aqueous MB solutions under UV irradiation. The effect of three main operational parameters on the MB photocatalytic degradation was studied: mass of TiO2/5%Curcumin material deposited on the cellulose paper, intensity of the irradiation light and initial pollutant concentration (MB). We found that by working under optimum operating conditions of material deposited mass (14 mg), initial pollutant concentration (10 ppm) and intensity of UV irradiation light (3.76 W/cm2), approximately 85% MB was eliminated after 220 min of irradiation. The kinetic study indicates that the MB photocatalytic degradation followed first-order kinetics model. The rate constant and the half-life time were (344 ± 5) × 10–4 min−1 and 20 min, respectively. Photocatalytic degradation of MB in the film containing TiO2/5%-curcumin material was improved by 12% compared to the blank film.