PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF DYES USING RUTILE TIO2-PANI COMPOSITE PREPARED BY ONE POT METHOD
K.Bharathi Yazhini, R. Rajesh Kumar, K.U Savitha, H.Gurumallesh Prabu
Abstract
Anionic dye (Direct Blue1) and cationic (MethyleneBlue) was subjected to degradation under sunlight with synthesized photocatalysts; via anatase TiO2 (AT), rutileTiO2 (RT), and rutile TiO2-polyaniline (RTP) composite. The composite was synthesized by one pot method using TiCl4 as precursor. The synthesized catalysts were characterized with XRD, FT-IR, UV-Vis and SEM analysis. The dye was degraded and the degree of degradation was calculated. UV-Vis and FT-IR spectra of catalyst loaded with dye were studied with and without sunlight exposure to reveal the photocatalytic action. The %COD removal was also obtained. The results showed that polyaniline can act as sensitizer. A RTP (TiO2-polyaniline) composition at 1: 0.06 ratios was found to degrade the dye better than all other catalysts. Thus rutile TiO2 that has lower activity can be made more active than anatase itself by proper compositing with polyaniline. The anionic nature of dye makes it to adsorb on the catalysts. The degradation of the dye can be considered as mainly by adsorption in the absence of sunlight and it competes with catalytic process in the presence of sunlight. The % decolourization and the % COD removal were almost equal and found to be at 60%.