Removal of ß-naphthol in Water via Photocatalytic Degradation over N-TiO 2 /SiO 2 Nanocomposite under Simulated Solar Light Irradiation

Abstract

In the present study, photocatalytic materials of TiO2/SiO2 and nitrogen-dopedTiO2/SiO2 were prepared by sol–gel method. Their photocatalytic activities were evaluated using ß-naphthol solution with a 25 W lamp (Natural light PT 2191-ExoTerra) as the simulated solar light source. Physico-chemical properties of photocatalytic materials were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The effects of the nitrogen (N) content and calcination temperature on the morphology and photocatalytic activity of TiO2/SiO2 were investigated. A Visible-light response was obtained with N-doped TiO2/SiO2 materials, resulting in high degradation of ß-naphthol (10 ppm) from 89.41 % to 95.4 %, which was higher than that of P25 (58.75 %).