Enhanced methylene blue removal efficiency of TiO2 embedded porous glass

Abstract

A porous glass (PG) embedded with titanium dioxide (TiO2) was produced via impregnation of the PG with Titanium (IV) Isopropoxide solution followed by crystallization. N2 sorption analyses revealed that the specific surface area (SSA) and total pore volume of the PG reached to 358 m2/g and 0.370 cm3/g, respectively. The adsorption capacity of methylene blue (MB) for the glasses was measured in the dark, instead the photocatalytic MB removal efficiency was evaluated by the degradation of MB under UV light illumination using a UV–vis spectrometer. The MB removal efficiency of the TiO2 synthesized anatase powder was only 32.3 % whereas, for TiO2 embedded PG (TiPG) it was 91.6 %, and nearly complete (> 99 %) efficacy was achieved for TiO2 embedded alkaline leached PG (TiPG-AL) under UV illumination 3 h period. Better MB removal efficiency was attributed to high SSA and dispersion of nano size anatase TiO2 crystallites within the porous structure. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd