2.4 Photocatalytic activity measurements
Methyl orange (MO) was used as a model compound to
investigate the photocatalytic activity of samples with an
initial concentration of 100 mg/L in aqueous solution. The
reactions were carried out in a quartz glass vessel and the
reactor was irradiated by UV light (220-400 nm) from xenon
lamp (PLS-SXE300UV, Cermax, USA) located directly above
the vessel at a distance of 5 cm from the liquid surface. Before
the irradiation, adsorptive property of samples was
investigated in a complete dark. The concentrations of the
aqueous MO solution during degradation and adsorption
treatment were determined with a UV-vis spectrometer (T6,
Persee, China) by measuring the absorbance at 465 nm.