One Step Synthesis of TiO2-Activated Carbon Composite Using Hydrothermal Method with Mass Variation of Activated Carbon

Abstract

One effort to increase the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 is to immobilize it on the surface of the sorbent material. This study aims to produce TiO2-Activated Carbon (TiO2-AC) composites which have higher photocatalytic activity than TiO2, using a simple method. The synthesis of TiO2-AC  composites was carried out using the hydrothermal method. The synthesis process was initiated by mixing TTIP, ethanol, H2O, and activated carbon with various masses (5 g, 10 g, 15 g, and 20 g). The mixture was then put into a hydrothermal autoclave and heated at 180°C for 12 hours. The material is then washed until the pH is neutral, and then dried. The TiO2-AC composite powder was then calcined at 500°C for 3 hours. Based on the photocatalytic test of the TiO2-AC composite on the degradation of methylene blue compounds, it was shown that composite with a mass variation of 10 g activated carbon (TiO2-AC/10) had the highest photocatalytic activity. FTIR characterization of the sample TiO2-AC/10 showed a shift in the peak wave number of the hydroxyl and carbon groups. Meanwhile, the results of morphological analysis using SEM showed that TiO2 particles had adhered to the AC surface, which was also confirmed by EDX data in the presence of Ti and O elements in the synthesized material. The results of the crystallinity analysis showed that the 100% synthesized TiO2 was the anatase phase with a crystalline size of 1.80−14.14 nm. This study open up opportunities for the development of TiO2-based composite materials for large-scale environmental remediation applications.