Enhanced activity of Tio₂/natural zeolite composite for degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation

A series of titanium dioxide nanoparticles anchored on mordenite zeolite from an Indonesian natural deposit were prepared by the sol-gel route using a titanium isopropoxide sol as the precursor. Mordenite was incorporated during the sol-gel process by dispersing mordenite powder into the titania sol-gel precursor. The resulting titanium dioxide nanoparticles were in the anatase and rutile form, as confirmed by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy. Diffuse reflectance ultra violet visible (DR-UVVis) spectroscopy analysis indicated a red shift for the band gap energy, which enabled the materials to absorb ultraviolet to visible light. Subjecting the material to photodegradation in a reactor under ultraviolet and visible radiation gave better dye degradation under visible light than ultraviolet irradiation and the yield was proportional with the content of TiO₂ nanoparticles incorporated into the zeolite.