Enhanced Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Using S-TiO 2 Composites Pillared Clay under Visible Light

We investigated methylene blue adsorption capacity and photodegradation removal efficiency using an S-TiO 2 @clay composite by irradiating a commercial Tungsten halogen lamp in a reactor. The same experimental conditions were applied to clay and pristine TiO 2 as a reference. Morphology surface area, chemical bonding, and optical properties of those samples were characterized by using FESEM, FTIR and UV-Vis DRS tehcniques. The S-TiO 2 @clay composites showed a high surface area and an even pore distribution compared to natural clays and pristine TiO 2 . The results indicate that the composite was successfully pillared on natural clay. These results exhibit that S-TiO 2 composite pillared natural clay (S-TiO 2 @clay) presented better results in the methylene blue dye adsorption-photodegradation process, with an adsorption efficiency of 93.87% and degradation efficiency of 94.94%. In tests performed in the absence of natural clay, the degradation efficiency of 88.46%, while tests performed in the natural clay only obtained an adsorption efficiency of 86.41%. These results evidence that the combination methods of adsorption-photodegradation are very efficient in removing methylene blue dye.