High-efficiency cellulose acetate/GO/CaCO3 for solar photodegradation of methylene blue

A solar photodegradation film for methylene blue (MB) removal has been fabricated using cellulose triacetate (CTA), graphene oxide (GO), and CaCO3. First, GO was prepared from graphite using the modified Hummers method, and its structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. CTA/GO film loaded with CaCO3 (CTA/CaCO3/GO) was prepared by a simple casting method, and its structure was characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/ energy dispersive electron spectroscopy (EDX). Hydrophilicity was investigated using contact angle measurements, which confirmed the effectiveness of GO as a surface-modifying agent, transforming the CTA/CaCO3 film into a more hydrophilic film. The solar photodegradation of MB dye by a CTA/CaCO3/GO film was investigated under varying pH, sorbent dosage, and contact time. The results showed that more than 90% of the MB dye was removed by CTA/CaCO3/GO under solar radiation after 2 h. The rate of solar photodegradation of MB dye by the CTA/CaCO3/GO film followed pseudo-second-order kinetics.