Chemical Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye Using TiO2/Au Nanoparticles.

Gold nanoparticles (~10 nm) were deposited on titanium dioxide nanoparticles (~21 nm) and the material obtained was characterized using IR, UV-Vis, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm, DLS, EDS (EDX), TEM, XPS, and XRD techniques. It was found that the methylene blue dye is degraded in the presence of this material when using hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant. Tests were performed at 2, 4, 6, and 24 h, with hydrogen peroxide contents varying from 1 to 5 mg/mL. Longer exposure time and a higher content of oxidant led to the degradation of methylene blue dye at up to 90%. The material can be reused several times with no loss of activity.