Removal of methyl violet dye by a photocatalytic process using variations of TiO2 /zeolite synthesized from muscovite raw material

Removal of methyl violet dye by a photocatalytic process using variations of TiO2 /zeolite synthesized from muscovite raw material The removal of methyl violet dye through a photocatalytic process has been successfully carried out. This study aimed to evaluate the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2 /zeolite catalysts in degrading methyl violet dye. Zeolites were synthesized from silica and aluminum sources derived from muscovite raw materials using the hydrothermal method, resulting in two types of zeolites: cancrinite (CAN) in synthesis A and analcime (ANA) in synthesis B. The zeolites were combined with anatase-phase TiO2 to form photocatalysts, with XRD analysis confirming the cubic structure of analcime and hexagonal cancrinite in the anatase phase. FTIR spectra showed sharp bands in the 468–1005 cm- 1 wave number range. SEM analysis showed that TiO2 /analcime exhibited a hexagonal morphology with a crystal size of 10.58 μm, while TiO2 /cancrinite had a rod-shaped morphology with a crystal size of 21.3 μm. Surface area analysis showed that TiO2 /ANA and TiO2 /CAN had surface areas of 34.80 m2/g and 23.08 m2/g, respectively, with pore diameters > 2 nm, which confirmed their mesoporous nature based on the BJH method. UV-DRS analysis showed band gap energies of 3.13 eV for TiO2/ANA and 3.11 eV for TiO2/CAN. Photodegradation tests showed that the TiO2/ANA catalyst exhibited higher methyl violet degradation efficiency than TiO2/CAN. This study high- lighted the potential of TiO2/zeolite-based photocatalysts for effective treatment of dye-contaminated wastewater, contributing to environmental sustainability.