Sol-Gel Preparation of Nanoscale TiO₂/SiO₂ Composite for Eliminating of Con Red Azo Dye

Abdolreza Nilchi, Simin Janitabar-Darzi, Somayeh Rasouli-Garmarodi

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DOI: 10.4236/msa.2011.25064                

Abstract

A new anatase/SiO₂ nanocomposite was synthesized by sol-gel method at room temperature using titanium tetrachloride and tetraethylorthosilicate as raw materials. Characterization of the product was carried out by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface areas, Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. Thermal phase transformation studies of composite were carried out up to 1100°C which showed the establishment of anatase TiO₂ phase. The presence of some tetrahedral coordination of TiO₂ species in SiO₂ matrix was confirmed by UV-Vis study. The produced TiO₂/SiO₂ nanocomposite has good photocatalytic properties due to its anatase phase, existence of tetrahedral coordination of TiO₂ in the SiO₂ matrix and very large surface area. Furthermore, the synthesized anatase/SiO₂ shows significant adsorption ability towards Congo Red (CR) azo dye in comparison with the pure commercial TiO₂ which is known as Degussa, P25.

Keywords

TiO₂/SiO₂, Nanocomposites, Sol-Gel Preparation, Photocatalyst, Congo Red

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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