Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange in aqueous solution over titania-pillared α-zirconium phosphate

Titania-pillared alpha-zirconium phosphate (alpha-ZrP) with varied amounts of TiO2 has been successfully synthesised via a two-step method. The samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen sorption (N-2 sorption), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICPES). Photocatalytic activities of the samples were primarily evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO) solution under UV irradiation. The results indicate that an appropriate amount of pillared titania in alpha-ZrP will facilitate the photocatalytic degradation of the MO solution. The photocatalytic activity is enhanced when the amount of TiO2 is increased (up to 1.7 wt%), but the activity decreases above this amount Titania-pillared alpha-ZrP exhibits better photocatalytic activity than that of pure anatase TiO2. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.