Simultaneous Adsorption And Photodegradation Of Methylene Blue (MB): Synthesis And Photocatalytic Activity Of Silica Based Metal Catalysts

Methylene Blue (MB) is one of the major contaminants found in water sources. Therefore, this study emphasizes the importance of the removal of this organic pollutant. Silica based metals incorporated catalysts were synthesized via sol-gel method and were characterized by several physico-chemical techiques such as FT-IR, XRD, Nitrogen Adsorption- Desorption, TGA, SEM-EDX, TEM, AAS, and Photoluminescence. The metals incorporated were titania, ceria and silver oxide. The presence of these metals were proven by the XRD, SEM-EDX and AAS analysis. The adsorption capability of Rice Husk Silica (RHS) increased when metal ions are incorporated. The photocatalytic capability of these metals incorporated RHS catalysts seemed to have rivaled that of commercially synthesized pure titania (99% anatase phase)powder which is currently being used for the photocatalysis study of organic pollutants.