Application of the statistical analysis methodology for photodegradation of methyl orange using a new nanocomposite containing modified TiO2 semiconductor with SnO2

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pure anatase TiO2 nanoparticles and two kinds of TiO2–SnO2 nanocomposite with different amounts of SnO2 nanoparticles (A-S (1-1) and A-S (1-2)) are synthesised. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern is used for the characterisation of the synthesised samples. The XRD results confirmed that synthesised TiO2 nanoparticles have an anatase structure and SnO2 nanoparticles possess a tetragonal structure. The results of TEM reveal that the particle size of the TiO2 nanoparticles is less than 30 nm. Meanwhile, the SnO2 nanoparticle is successfully introduced onto the outer surface of TiO2 nanoparticles. The variation in the removal efficiency of methyl orange as an organic pollutant with UV irradiation time, weight fraction of synthesised photocatalysts and pH is investigated. The obtained results confirm that the removal efficiency of methyl orange increases in respect of the UV irradiation time and weight fraction. In addition, it is observed that the highest and lowest removal efficiencies occur at pH = 3 and pH = 11, respectively. Meanwhile, the results reveal that the removal efficiency of methyl orange is enhanced in respect of the SnO2 nanoparticles content in the synthesised nanocomposite. The analysis of variance investigation reveals that all the main factors have a significant effect on the removal efficiency of pollutant. Meanwhile, the proposed models can accurately predict the variation of the removal efficiency with studied parameters.