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Visible light photocatalytic activity of chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol)/TiO 2 nanocomposite for dye removal: taguchi‐based optimization
Author(s) -
Rasoulifard Mohammad Hossein,
Seyed Dorraji Mir Saeed,
Mozafari Vahideh
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
environmental progress and sustainable energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.495
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1944-7450
pISSN - 1944-7442
DOI - 10.1002/ep.12438
Subject(s) - vinyl alcohol , nanocomposite , photocatalysis , materials science , chitosan , nuclear chemistry , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , aqueous solution , titanium dioxide , chemical engineering , chemistry , composite material , polymer , organic chemistry , catalysis , engineering
This work describes the preparation of chitosan/poly (vinyl alcohol)/titanium dioxide (CS/PVA/TiO 2 ) nanocomposite for its use as a photocatalyst under visible light irradiation. The prepared nanocomposite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The photocatalytic activity of CS/PVA/TiO 2 was evaluated by photocatalytic removal of acid red 14 (AR14) in aqueous solution as a model pollutant. A Taguchi orthogonal array experimental design with an L 16 matrix was employed to optimize the factors affecting the photocatalytic efficiency of CS/PVA/TiO 2 nanocomposite such as: pH, irradiation time, initial dye concentration, and nanocomposite dosage. The optimum conditions were found to be as follows: pH = 3; irradiation time = 120 min; initial dye concentration = 10 mg L −1 , and nanocomposite dosage = 400 mg L −1 . The pH was found to be the most effective factor for dye removal, followed by the nanocomposite dosage. The dye removal during visible‐CS/PVA/TiO 2 process under optimal conditions followed the pseudo‐first‐order reaction model with the rate constants of 0.0188 min −1 . The photocatalytic activity of CS/PVA/TiO 2 nanocomposite dropped very slightly in five consecutive reaction cycles. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 66–72, 2017