Visible light induced photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange by polythiophene/Ti[O.sub.2] composite particles

The adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) aqueous solution under visible light illumination by polythiophene/titanium dioxide (PTh/Ti[O.sub.2]) composite particles were studied. The experimental observations from UV-vis spectrophotometer indicate that MO molecules were degraded in a different degree during the visible light-induced photocatalysis reaction. We propose a new degradation mechanism of MO during the photocatalytic reaction, based on blue shift of UV-vis absorption spectra of MO solution and other researches. The data from total organic carbon analyzer definitely prove that MO can be mineralized to C[O.sub.2] and [H.sub.2]O, and some intermediate products are generated during the photocatalysis degradation of MO. Keywords Polythiophene/Ti[O.sub.2] composite particles * Photocatalytic * Visible light * Methyl orange