Abstract:

Attapulgite (Att) was taken as the matrix of SnO2-TiO2 hybrid oxide to synthesize a novel kind of composite photocatalyst. The composite photocatalyst (marked as Att-SnO2-TiO2) were fabricated by depositing SnO2-TiO2 hybrid oxides on the surface of Att using in stiu sol-gel technique. The obtained products were characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), BET surface area and Transmission electron microscope (TEM) methods. It was found that the surface morphology of the original attapulgite was effectively reformed and SnO2-TiO2 nanocomposites averaged at about 10 nm were loaded successfully on the surface of Att fibers with high dispersibility. Correspondingly, the BET surface area of Att composites was close to that of original Att suggesting the loading impact was quite successful. Photocatalytic removal of methyl orange under ultraviolet radiation was studied using attapulgite (Att) composites. Results showed that the Att composite photocatalysts presented preferable photocatalytic property, and the photoactivity of the composite photocatalyst decreased in a sequence of Att-SnO2-TiO2 > Att-SnO2 > Att-TiO2. The Att-SnO2-TiO2 took on the excellent activity and the decomposition rate of methyl orange was up to 99% within 30min when the Att-SnO2-TiO2 powder was used as the photocatalyst. The repeated use of the composite photocatalyst was also confirmed.

Key words: SnO2-TiO2, photocatalyst, attapulgite, Loading, sol-gel techniaue