Flame spray pyrolysis synthesized gold-loaded titanium dioxide photocatalyst for degradation of Rhodamine B

Gold-loaded titanium dioxide (Au-loaded TiO2) was synthesized by the flame spray pyrolysis method for using as photocatalyst. The synthesized Au-loaded TiO2 photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye solution over synthesized Au-loaded TiO2 was studied. The concentration of RhB was determined by UV–Vis spectrophotometry. For the photocatalytic activity, it was found that Au(1.00 mol%)-loaded TiO2 was a better photocatalyst than others under the same reaction conditions. The optimal conditions for photocatalytic degradation of RhB were found to be 0.6 g/L of photocatalyst concentration under UV light irradiation (UV–C 254 nm). The highest kinetic rate constant of photocatalyst was 0.0057 min−1 at the optimum conditions and the mechanism of the photocatalytic process had also been discussed.