Structural and Photocatalytic Properties of TiO2/Zeolite Synthesized using Sol-Gel Method

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is supported into natural zeolite to enhance its photocatalytic activity. TiO₂/zeolite is synthesized using sol-gel method at composition ratio of 5:95; 10:90; 20:80 and 30:70%. Structural properties are measured by X-ray diffraction showed TiO₂/zeolite in various composition has characteristic of anatase and modernite phase. The energy dispersive spectroscopy characterization shows TiO₂/zeolite containing Ti element which indicates that TiO_2is successfully supported into natural zeolite_. Vibration mode of Infrared and Raman spectra tend shifted to higher wavenumber as increasing of TiO₂ content indicating the higher energy vibration due to molecular interaction between TiO₂ and zeolite. Photocatalytic activity test toward methylene blue degradation shows that TiO₂/zeolite has higher activity than TiO₂ and zeolite itself.

Keywords: Photocatalyst, titanium dioxide, zeolite