The photocatalytic properties of the samples were evaluated by
the photodegradation of 5 mg/L aqueous solution of dye MB,
which was carried out by dispersing 5 mg as-prepared products in
50 mL solution of dye MB in 100 mL beaker under magnetic stirring.
A 500W xenon lamp was used as light source at room
temperature. The distance between the xenon lamp and the MB
solution was about 40 cm. The UV–vis spectrometer was used to
determine the concentration of MB solution during the photocatalytic
degradation. Decolorization rate D(%) was calculated by
the Eq. (1) to assess the adsorption ability and photocatalytic activity
of the samples:
where D(%) is the decolorization rate of MB at t minutes of catalytic
degradation, A0 is the initial absorbance of the MB solution,
and At is the absorbance at t minutes of catalytic degradation.