Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange and Methylene Blue under Visible Light Irradiation and Sunlight by TiO۲ Nanoparticles Using Novel Tridentate N۲O Schiff Base Complexes

Two novel heterocyclic Schiff base complexes ([VOL۱(DMF)] [H۲L۱ = (E)-۱-((۲-amino-۵-nitrophenyl)imino-methyl) naphthalen-۲-ol] and [VO۲L۲] [H۲L۲ = [(E)-۱-((۲-aminoethyl) imino-methyl)naphthalen-۲-ol]) were synthesized and FT-IR, elemental analysis and UV-Vis spectroscopy were used to fully characterize them. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction was used to determine the structure of the [VO۲L۲] complex, in which the coordination around the vanadium ion is best described as distorted square pyramidal. The basal plane is formed by the donor atoms (NNO) of the Schiff base ligand and one of the oxo groups while the apical position is occupied by the other oxo group in the structure. The Schiff base complexes were loaded over TiO۲ photocatalyst and calcined at ۴۵۰°C. The MOX/TiO۲ structure and morphology were characterized by FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), EDX and solid state UV-Vis absorption. Photocatalytic oxidation of methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) dyes in aqueous media by solar and visible lights was used to evaluate the photocatalytic efficiency of MOX/TiO۲ semi-conducting nanoparticles. The incorporation of these complexes enhanced TiO۲ activation with visible light compared with naked TiO۲, according to the results.