Efficient degradation of methylene blue by tungstophosphoric acid incorporated into TiO2

Wastewater from textile dyeing and finishing factories is a significant source of environmental pollution. For the treatment of dye-containing wastewaters, traditional methods have difficulties in the complete destruction of dye pollutants. Therefore, in recent years, photocatalytic oxidation has received considerable attention for the destructive oxidation of dyes and textile effluents. In this work we synthesized TiO2-based photocatalyst containing different amounts of tungstophosphoric acid (TPA) by hydrothermal synthesis method. The resulting photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, BET and UV-vis spectroscopy. Photocatalytic oxidation of methylene blue was tested by these catalysts under ambient condition using H2O2 as an auxiliary oxidant. The catalysts display an efficient photoactivity for degradation of methylene blue. By increasing amount of tungstophosphoric acid incorporated into the structure of TiO2, photoactivity was improved and the time of the photocatalytic oxidation process was considerably reduced.

Keywords:

Degradation , Methylene Blue , Photocatalyst , TiO2 , Tungstophosphoric Acid