Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes Using Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and Mg-TiO2 Nanoparticles

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) based nano-sized photocatalysts (NPCs) were synthesized following a green method from the extract of Peepal ( Ficus religiosa ) leaves and titanium tetrachloride as precursors. Doping of TiO 2 with Magnesium (Mg) was done using magnesium chloride through the method of chemical precipitation. Size of the NPC samples were estimated and characterized by CPS Disc Centrifuge, Diffracted Light Scattering (DLS) and Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscopy (FEG-SEM) techniques. UV-visible spectroscopy was employed in the study of photocatalytic properties of the NPCs. A low-cost, simple photo-reactor was fabricated and photocatalytic degradation of Methyl Orange (MO) and Methylene Blue (MB) dye solutions was investigated. Reasonable degradation of the dyes was observed in the presence of the NPCs. It was therefore concluded that the NPCs studied in this work can be promising nanomaterials for the degradation of MO and MB dyes under visible light irradiation. Nevertheless, a detailed investigation of various factors influencing the processes involved will be required to optimize the conditions in order to achieve the best degradation efficiency.