Abstract
The new nanophotocatalyst MgZnCr-TiO2 was prepared by co-precipitation under different molar ratio of metals (Zn:Cr) and the loaded amount of TiO2. And it was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy et al. Langmuir model fitted well the adsorption isotherm with the value of R2 0.9765, the maximum adsorption capacity was 526.32 mg g−1, the adsorption followed pseudo second order kinetic by MgZnCr-TiO2 (1:1:2–0.05). The photocatalytic oxidation of Congo red was used to determine the photocatalytic performance of MgZnCr-TiO2 (1:1:2–0.05) under visible light irradiation, and the removal rate reached 98% after reaction for 40 min. The degradation mechanism of Congo red also was proposed, and the MgZnCr-TiO2 (1:1:2–0.05) was stable after five cycles. Compared to the adsorption, Congo red was removed fundamentally by photocatalysis and it is expected to be an effective way to eliminate Congo red.
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•MgZnCr-TiO2 (1:1:2–0.05) was successfully prepared by co-precipitation.•MgZnCr-TiO2 (1:1:2–0.05) has a good adsorption capacity of Congo red.•Congo red was adsorbed and degraded under visible light irradiation by MgZnCr-TiO2 (1:1:2–0.05).•The preparation of MgZnCr-TiO2 and degraded Congo red by this way are economical.