Fullerene-modified silica materials designed for highly efficient dyes photodegradation

Dye photodegradation of fullerene-modified silica materials has been investigated for ecological purposes. The highly efficient photodegradation process for the removal of 45% and 90% methylene blue dye under VIS and UVC light irradiation, respectively has proved the potential photo-degradative properties of these fullerene-modified silica materials. The key parameters that control photodegradation are quite high specific surface area (395m2/g) of silica support, very low content of C60 (0.04%) and the size effect promoted by homogeneous dispersion of C60 nanoclusters (10nm) in SiO2 support. The enhancement of photodegradation efficiency is interpreted in terms of band gap energy and zeta potential values of the nanostructures under study. •Fullerene-modified silica materials (3.04eV) for dye removal and photodegradation.•Highly efficient photodegradation (45% VIS; 90% UVC) at low content of C60 (0.04%).•C60 nanoclusters (10nm) size effect–key parameters that controls photodegradation.