SYNTHESIS And CHARACTERIZATION PHOTOCATALYTIC MATERIAL Of Na2Ti6O13 DOPED Ag+ AND Cu2+

• Main Author: Rahma, Cukri
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Kimia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/38230
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Photocatalytic reaction is a reaction that involves photons to activate the catalyst. Basically, photocatalyst is a semiconductor material. Low efficiency of photocatalyst is the main problem in application of photocatalytic reaction. Efficiency of photocatalytic reaction is influenced by several factors such as crystal size of the photocatalyst, semiconductor energy gap, and recombination of electrons and holes. Sodium hexatitanate (Na2Ti6O13) is a photocatalyst material that has large energy gap of 3.5 eV. Wide energy gap requires a greater light energy to activate sodium hexatitanate. Therefore, modification is needed to reduce the energy gap by adding dopants into Na2Ti6O13. These research aimed to synthesize and characterize photocatalytic materials of Na2Ti6O13 doped with Ag+ and Cu2+. From the characterization results, Na2Ti6O13 with size of 48.44 nm, and energy gap of 3.40 eV has been prepared. Na2Ti6O13 has a monoclinic crystal system with lattice parameters of a = 15.210 Å, b = 3.744 Å, c = 9.165 Å, and ? = 99.050o. Dopants were added into Na2Ti6O13 and it was carried out through ion exchange reaction. Particle size of Na2Ti6O13: Ag is 18.62 nm and it is energy gap of 2.80 eV, with monoclinic crystal system and lattice parameters of a = 15.123 Å, b = 3.749 Å, c = 9.151 Å, and ? = 99.147o. The size of Na2Ti6O13: Cu is 21.33 nm and energy gap was found to be at 3.0 eV, with monoclinic crystal system and lattice parameters of a = 15.117 Å, b = 3.748 Å, c = 9.152 Å, and ? = 99.210o. Photocatalyst activity was tested under UV light irradiation for 3 hours. Degradation of methylene blue (MB) by Na2Ti6O13 is found to be at 51%. MB degradation efficiency increased to 70% with Na2Ti6O13 doped with Cu2+. But when it was added with Ag+ ions, it was dropped to 27%. The MB degradation efficiency from the higher to the lower can be as follows: Na2Ti6O13: Cu > Na2Ti6O13 > Na2Ti6O13: Ag. It can be concluded that the Cu2+ dopants effectively increased the efficiency of Na2Ti6O13 photocatalyst.