ARCHIVES
VOL. 5, ISSUE 4 (2021)
Pt, N co-doped TiO2 ternary nanocomposite associated with activated carbon for the photocatalytic degradation of Methylene blue: optimization and modeling using the taguchi design
Authors
Nkeng Severin Muluh, Njoyim Estella Buleng Tamungang, Julius Numbonui Ghogomu, T D Noufame
Abstract
Two photocatalysts Pt, N co-doped TiO2 (Pt-N-TiO2) and Pt, N co-doped TiO2 associated with Raphia Hooker epicarp activated carbon (Pt-N-TiO2/RHEAC) were synthesized via the sol-gel method. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized for their surface areas via the BET method, pore size distribution via the BJH method, and bandgap energy using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Both photocatalysts exhibited mesoporous structures with cylindrical pore structures having mean pore diameters of 27.86nm and 37.09nm and bandgap energies of 3.05eV and 2.83eV for Pt-N-TiO2 and Pt-N-TiO2/RHEAC respectively. Taguchi design was employed for the optimization and modeling of the process parameters which were dye concentration, amount of catalyst, irradiation time, and pH. The photodegradation efficiencies of methylene blue removal by both catalysts were 77.58% and 83.38% for Pt-N-TiO2 and Pt-N-TiO2/RHEAC respectively under optimum conditions. Furthermore, the mathematical models developed exhibited high correlation coefficients (R2) of 96.23% and 97.38% for the photodegradation efficiencies by Pt-N-TiO2 and Pt-N-TiO2/RHEAC respectively between the predicted and the experimental response characteristics. This was an indication that both models could be effectively utilized in predicting the response characteristics at the optimum process parameters level. The amount of catalyst and dye concentration were the only process parameters that contributed meaningfully to MB removal.
Pages:29-38
How to cite this article:
Nkeng Severin Muluh, Njoyim Estella Buleng Tamungang, Julius Numbonui Ghogomu, T D Noufame "Pt, N co-doped TiO2 ternary nanocomposite associated with activated carbon for the photocatalytic degradation of Methylene blue: optimization and modeling using the taguchi design ". International Journal of Chemical Science, Vol 5, Issue 4, 2021, Pages 29-38
Download Author Certificate
Please enter the email address corresponding to this article submission to download your certificate.