Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue using Zn/SBA-15 synthesized from palm oil fuel ash

Abstract

This study focused on the potential of Zn/SBA-15 synthesized from POFA for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB). The synthesized Zn/SBA-15 was characterized using XRD, FESEM, and N₂ adsorption-desorption, and catalytically evaluated for batch photocatalytic of MB at various parameters including effects of time (0–180 min), catalyst dosage (0.5–5 g/L), pH (2–8), and initial MB concentration (10–50 mg/L) under UV light. The characterization analyses disclosed the well formation of SBA-15 and ZnO particles were highly dispersed into/over the well-ordered mesoporous channels. The best conditions were achieved at a time of 180 min, catalyst dosage of 3 g/L, pH 5, and initial MB concentration of 10 mg/L, with MB degradation of 77%. The experimental data demonstrated high linearity with the pseudo-first-order Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model indicating a bimolecular reaction between two species. The results revealed that the synthesized Zn/SBA-15 exhibited excellent catalytic activity towards the photocatalytic degradation of MB dye.