Titanium dioxide supported on HZSM-5 for acid red 1 photocatalytic degradation

The TiO2 nano-crystals were synthesized on the HZSM-5 zeolite to facilitate the photocatalyst-water separation. The HZSM-5 surface was tightly coated with a TiO2 layer in the thickness of approximately 100 nm. The distinct boundaries of the TiO2 layer and the zeolite demonstrated the strong combination of the two materials. There was insignificant effect of this interaction on the properties of the TiO2-HZSM-5 (TOHZ) at a given titanium oxide content. The chemical environments of the two elements in the titanium dioxide were not influenced by the HZSM-5. The ECB (conduction band edge) and the EVB (valence band edge) were − 0.63 and 2.45 V for the TOHZ. The supported TOHZ photocatalyst had a promising activity on Acid Red 1 (AR1) degradation. 45.4% of the AR1 molecules were degraded in the solution using 300 mg/L of TOHZ after 30 min of reaction. Reusability test showed that 73.7% of the TOHZ’s activity was retained after five treatment cycles.