Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of direct blue 71 dye using TiO₂-PAA-GO composite in aqueous solution

Abstract In this work, we successfully synthesized a TiO 2 -PAA-GO hydrogel photocatalyst (GO: graphene oxide; PAA: poly acrylic acid) using hydrothermal method. The XRD, FTIR, SEM, and XPS results demonstrated the formation of cross-link bond within , GO, PAA nanocomposite. nanomaterials, with particle size approximately 5 nm, were uniformly distributed on GO layer, have high surface area (156 m g −1 ). We then applied composite to remove direct blue 71 (DB-71) from water, achieving up 98.16% removal. This success was due (i) reduction in bandgap energy, (ii) reduced electron hole recombination, (iii) increased output generated electrons, (iv) specific area. also investigated efficiency DB-71 degradation, considering initial concentration DB-71, pH, contact time, catalyst mass, role reactive radicals. After six reaction cycles, over 95% removed aqueous medium -GO-PAA photocatalyst.