Sonocatalytic removal of an organic dye using TiO2/Montmorillonite nanocomposite

• Synthesis of TiO2/Montmorillonite nanocomposite.
• Sonocatalytic degradation of a textile dye by TiO2/Montmorillonite nanocomposite.
• Characterization of the synthesised nanomaterials by XRD, FTIR, and SEM.

The sonocatalytic performance of the synthesized TiO2/Montmorillonite K10 (TiO2/MMT) nanocomposite was studied in removal of Basic Blue 3 (BB3) from water. The TiO2/MMT nanocomposite was prepared by hydrothermal method. Scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared were used to characterize the synthesized nanocomposite. The average size of TiO2 nanoparticles decreased from 60–80 nm to 40–60 nm through the immobilization of this semiconductor on the surface of MMT. The obtained results indicated that the sonocatalytic activity of TiO2/MMT nanocomposite was higher than that of pure TiO2 nanoparticles and MMT particles. Furthermore, the main influence factors on the sonocatalytic activity such as the BB3 concentration, pH of solution, TiO2/MMT dose, power of ultrasonic generator, and inorganic salts were studied. The intermediates of BB3 degradation during the sonocatalytic process in the presence of the TiO2/MMT nanocomposite have been monitored by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.