an effective and low-cost tio2/polystyrene floating photocatalyst for environmentalremediation

a floating polymer-supported photocatalyst based on polystyrene impregnated with titaniumdioxide particles was developed using a facile solvent-cast method at ambient temperature. the preparedphotocatalysts were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and fourier transforminfrared spectroscopy. the photocatalytic activity of the developed photocatalysts was investigated usingmethylene blue dye. the prepared polystyrene-supported titanium dioxide photocatalysts successfullyremoved color from the aqueous solution without any additional ph adjustment under ultraviolet (254 nm)irradiation and non-stirred, non-anchored conditions. the maximum color removal achieved by the optimizedphotocatalyst (10 weight percent loading of degussa p25 with respect to amount of polystyrene) was around93% after 7.5 h of ultraviolet light exposure. further, the photocatalyst sheets were also tested for recoveryand reuse. the efficiency of color removal achieved by the optimized photocatalyst on reuse was in the rangeof 99–100%. the developed photocatalyst seems to be a promising candidate that can be further investigatedfor large scale commercial applications.