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Synthesis and Characterization of Rectorite/ZnO/TiO2 Composites and Their Properties of Adsorption and Photocatalysis for the Removal of Methylene Blue Dye

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Abstract

As efficient water treatment agents, a novel series of rectorite-based ZnO and TiO2 hybrid composites (REC/ZnO/TiO2) were synthesized and characterized in this study. Effects of experimental parameters including TiO2 mass ratio, solution pH and catalyst dosage on the removal of methyl blue (MB) were also conducted. The presence of a little mass ratio (2%-6%) of TiO2 highly promoted the photoactivity of REC/ZnO/TiO2 in removal of MB dye from aqueous solution, in which ZnO and REC played a role of photocatalyst and adsorbent. The promotion effects of TiO2 may result from the accelerated separation of electron-hole on ZnO. The observed kinetic constant for the degradation of MB over REC/ZnO and REC/ZnO/TiO2 were 0.015 and 0.038 min-1, respectively. The degradation kinetics of MB dye, which followed the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model, had a reaction constant of 0.17 mg/(L·min). The decrease of removal ratio of MB after five repetitive experiments was small, indicating REC/ZnO/TiO2 has great potential as an effective and stable catalyst.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Resource and Environmental Science, Hubei Biomass-Resource Chemistry and Environmental Biotechnology Key Laboratory, Eco-environment Technology R&D and Service Center, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Huanhuan Wang  (王欢欢), Peijiang Zhou  (周培疆), Jia Wang, Yifei Wang, Rui Guo & Yali Zhang

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technllogy, Wuhan, China

    Junchong Wei

  3. Jingchu University of Technology, Jingmen, 448000, China

    Hongju Zhan

Authors
  1. Huanhuan Wang  (王欢欢)
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  2. Peijiang Zhou  (周培疆)
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  3. Jia Wang
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  4. Yifei Wang
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  6. Hongju Zhan
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  7. Rui Guo
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Correspondence to Peijiang Zhou  (周培疆).

Additional information

Funded by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (No. 2007AA06Z418), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 20577036, 20777058, 20977070), the National Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, China (No.2015CFA137), the Open Fund of Hubei Biomass-Resource Chemistry and Environmental Biotechnology Key Laboratory (Wuhan University), and the Fund of Eco-environment Technology R&D and Service Center (Wuhan University)

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Wang, H., Zhou, P., Wang, J. et al. Synthesis and Characterization of Rectorite/ZnO/TiO2 Composites and Their Properties of Adsorption and Photocatalysis for the Removal of Methylene Blue Dye. J. Wuhan Univ. Technol.-Mat. Sci. Edit. 33, 729–735 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-018-1885-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-018-1885-x

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