Photocatalytic Dye Removal Using GO-TiO2 Modified Electrode and Optimization by RSM

In this research, graphene oxide (GO) was deposited on the surface of graphite electrodes by the electrodeposition(ED) method which was synthesized by the modified Hummer’s method. FESEM images, FTIR analysis and XRD pattern were employed to confirm the structure of GO. TiO2 nanoparticles were further immobilized on the surface of the graphene oxide fabricated graphite electrodes (TiO2-GO-GE) using solvent evaporation and then photocatalytic activity of the prepared TiO2-GO-CE was studied for the discoloration of solutions containing Methylene Blue (MB) cationic dye. The effect of parameters such as initial dye concentration, pH of solution and TiO2 content on the decolorization efficiency of the photocatalytic process was investigated. The obtained results indicated that the prepared TiO2-GO-GE can decolorize MB with high efficiency (90 %) after 120 min of photocatalytic process. Stability test was carried out in order to show important role of GO. Then, response surface methodology (RSM) method was employed to optimize photocatalytic process and examine simultaneous effect of parameters. The validity of the model for optimization and prediction of the process with low number of experiments was stablished by experimental results (low difference between predicted value (80.56 %) and experimental value (76.47 %)) and also by high value of correlation coefficient (96.87 %).