Synthesis of TiO₂-doped carbon aerogel from sugarcane bagasse for high efficiency of photodegradation of methylene blue in the water

Abstract

In this work, TiO₂-doped carbon aerogel (TiO₂/CA) was synthesized from sugarcane bagasse hydrothermal, freeze drying, and carbonization methods. The effects of the calcination temperatures of 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800°C were also evaluated. The obtained TiO₂/CA exhibits an ultralow density (0.021-0.032 g/cm³) and porosity of more than 97%. The as- prepared TIO₂/CA was applied in photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) with the effects of dose sample and pH were also investigated. The results show that TiO₂/CA at 800°C (TiO₂/CA-800) exhibits the highest MB photodegradation efficiency of 93.86% at pH 9. The aforementioned results affirm the potential application of sugarcane bagasse for the fabrication of environmentally friendly and low cost adsorbents for the photodegradation of MB.