Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of activated charcoal prepared from vegetable sponge for photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B dye

An alternative for the correct treatment and final disposal of these wastes are the Advanced Oxidative Processes, in particular heterogeneous photocatalysis. Thus, the vegetable sponge (Luffa cylindrica) was used for the synthesis of activated carbon and photocatalysts doped with TiO2, for application in heterogeneous photocatalysis. The samples were characterized by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS-UV), nitrogen porosimetry, zeta potential (ZP) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To evaluate the photocatalytic activity, experiments were carried out in a stirred batch reactor, with the photocatalyst in suspension, under ultraviolet and visible radiation and as the target molecule was used the rhodamine B dye. The doped photocatalyst with Ti+4 synthesized from the activated carbon prepared with sucrose and glycine showed the best photocatalytic activity in the degradation of the RhB dye of 66 % (k = 0.0088 min-1, under ultraviolet radiation) and 49.8 % (k = 0.0059 min-1, under visible radiation) after 120 minutes of the reaction, while, under the same conditions, the commercial catalyst P25 showed a degradation of 53.92 % and 40.44 %, respectively.