High-efficiency cellulose acetate/GO/CaCO3 for solar photodegradation of methylene blue

Abstract

Abstract A solar photodegradation film for methylene blue (MB) removal has been fabricated using cellulose triacetate (CTA), graphene oxide (GO), and CaCO 3 . First, GO was prepared from graphite using the modified Hummers method, and its structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. CTA/GO film loaded with CaCO 3 (CTA/CaCO 3 /GO) was prepared by a simple casting method, and its structure was characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/ energy dispersive electron spectroscopy (EDX). Hydrophilicity was investigated using contact angle measurements, which confirmed the effectiveness of GO as a surface-modifying agent, transforming the CTA/CaCO 3 film into a more hydrophilic film. The solar photodegradation of MB dye by a CTA/CaCO 3 /GO film was investigated under varying pH, sorbent dosage, and contact time. The results showed that more than 90% of the MB dye was removed by CTA/CaCO 3 /GO under solar radiation after 2 h. The rate of solar photodegradation of MB dye by the CTA/CaCO 3 /GO film followed pseudo-second-order kinetics.