Catalyzed oxidative degradation of methyl orange over Au catalyst prepared by ionic liquid-polymer modified silica

Abstract

A new type of hybrid material was prepared by grafting an ionic liquid monomer, 1-(p-vinylbenzyl)-3-methylimidazolium chloride, on the surface of the porous silica which was synthesized via sodium silicate hydrolysis. The as-synthesized products were characterized by scanning electron microscope, nitrogen physisorption experiment, thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectra. A catalyst with Au was prepared using the hybrid material as carrier. The experimental results show that the catalyst exhibits a better catalytic effect of hydrogen peroxide on the degradation of methyl orange. The reason may be that the metal component of the catalyst facilitated the dissociation of hydrogen peroxide to produce abundant highly active free radicals which can rapidly ruin the structure of methyl orange molecules in water. Finally, a probable catalytic degradation mechanism based on diffusion was discussed.