Photochemical degradation of methylene blue by metal oxide-supported activated carbon photocatalyst

Activated carbon photocatalyst with high surface area has been synthesized and modified with iron oxide nanoparticles by microwave heating technique. The surface-modified microporous activated carbons were characterized by BET surface area and XRD analysis. Degradation experiments were conducted in batch mode with the variables such as contact time (0–120 min), photocatalyst dosage (0.01–0.2 g/L), initial solution concentration (50–150 mg/L), and solution pH (2–10). The iron oxide-modified activated carbon (3-Fe-MAC) was found to be more active compared to the free iron oxide nanoparticles and pristine activated carbon for methylene blue (MB) degradation. Kinetic studies on the photocatalytic degradation of MB using zeros, linear regression data suggested that the degradation followed first-order kinetics. The optimal conditions for the degradation of MB dye were 75 min, 100 ppm dye concentration, neutral pH, and 0.13 mg/L of 3-Fe-MAC dosage.