Photocatalytic Efficiency of TiO2 Supported on Raw Red Clay Disks to Discolour Reactive Red 141

Abstract

In this work, disks containing different amount of the TiO2 precursor impregnated on the raw red clay were produced. The disks were obtained by pressing in metal template and subsequently calcined at 500 °C. The raw clay was used as rigid support to fix the TiO2. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption (BET and BJH), scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The ability of disks to produce superoxide and hydroxyl radicals after photoexcitation with UV irradiation was monitored by EPR. The catalytic efficiency was evaluated by the Reactive Red 141 dye discoloration under artificial UV light and sunlight. The reaction parameters such as concentration of RR-141 and irradiation source were evaluated. The results showed that the disks were able to decolorize 97.5% under sunlight at 60 min. The disks were also efficient in the discoloration until the tenth cycle, resulting in discoloration values near the initial cycles. Additionally, the dye fragments produced in cleavage of molecule during the reaction were evaluated by LC/MS-MS.