Floating Photocatalyst based on Titanium Dioxide Immobilized on Carboxymethyl Cellulose Hydrogel from Bagasse

This research focused on the preparation of Titanium dioxide Carboxymethyl Cellulose Hydrogel (TiO2/CMC-hydrogel) floating catalyst for removing methyl orange dye. The obtained Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) from bagasse was mixed with nano Titanium dioxide and then crosslinked the polymer into hydrogel using succinic acid. The synthesized hydrogel films were characterized by Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) technique. Surface morphology of hydrogels was analyzed by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM). Band gap energy was evaluated by Ultraviolet–Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV–Vis DRS) technique. The study of morphology showed that TiO2 particles can disperse in CMC-hydrogel. Infrared absorption of carboxylate groups was shifted when adding TiO2 content. This can be suggested that there are interactions between carboxylate of CMC and TiO2 particles. In addition, CMC-hydrogel can decrease the band gap energy of TiO2, leading to improving methyl orange removal under sunlight. 2%TiO2/CMC-hydrogel floating catalyst provided an efficiency to remove methyl orange dye up to 78.11% after testing for 70 hours.