Efficiency of TiO2 catalyst supported by modified waste fly ash during photodegradation of RR45 dye

The waste fly ash (FA) material was subjected to chemical treatment with HCl at elevated temperature for a different time to modify its porosity. Modified FA particles with highest surface area and pore volume were further used as a support for TiO catalyst during FA/TiO nanocomposite preparation. The nanocomposite photocatalysts were obtained by sol–gel synthesis of titanium dioxide in the presence of FA particles. To perform accurate characterization of modified FA and FA/TiO nanocomposite photocatalysts, gas adsorption-desorption analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV/Vis and Infrared spectroscopy were used. Efficiency evaluation of the synthesized FA/TiO nanocomposites was performed by following the removal of Reactive Red 45 (RR45) azo dye during photocatalytic treatment under the UV-A irradiation. Photocatalysis has been carried out up to five cycles with the same catalysts to investigate their stability and the possible reuse. The FA/TiO photocatalyst showed very good photocatalytic activity and stability even after the fifth cycles. The obtained results show that successfully modified waste fly ash can be used as very good TiO support.