Catalytic Degradation of Organic Dye Using Organobentonite Gelatin Nanohybrid Film

Abstract

Organoclay minerals are meant to effectively involve in the adsorption of organic compounds and can be subjected to photodegradative activities in effluent treatment. In that sense, organobentonite, a type of organoclay, is also found to be useful in the effluent pretreatment due to its commercial availability and low cost. However, the use of thin film in the dye removal process enables easier handling and removal from the treatment setup. The current work was focussed to prepare a nanohybrid film consisting of organobentonite and gelatin. The produced nanohybrid film was tested for its tensile strength, elastic modulus and its extension at maximum load along with its thickness, water solubility, light transmission & opacity, swelling property and soil degradation capacity. The tensile strength of the nanohybrid film was found to increase with respect to the increase in the concentration of organobentonite added than that of the control without it. The extension at maximum load was also increased from 20.6mm to 43.4mm. The elastic modulus was found to be slightly changed by the addition of organobentonite. The soil degradation of nanohybrid films was 3-4 days while the gelatin film degraded in 5days. This nanohybrid film was tested in the catalytic degradation of methylene blue dye by taking absorbance value at 665 nm at a different interval of time and about 91% of the dye was effectively degraded within 2hrs under sunlight illumination than in the dark. Thus, this nanohybrid film can be used for the dye degradation process.