Synthesis of APTES and alcohol modified Sn/SBA-15 in presence of competitive ion: Test in degradation of Remazol Yellow

Sn/SBA-15s were prepared hydrothermally either disolving metals in EA (ethyl alcohol) or/and APTES (3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane) modification of TEOS (tetraethyl ortosilicate) under aluminum competition. Proposed synthesis mechanism in presence of APTES was supported by characterization results. Tin loading to SBA-15 did not destroy characteristic XRD peaks and best textural properties were achieved with solely APTES modification. Nano-sized tin species settling and increase in loading by APTES+EA were observed by TEM and EDX analyses. FTIR spectrums exhibited characteristic SBA-15 bands in all samples. Both XRD patterns and UV-vis DR spectrums showed that tin species settled in tin oxide form. Using APTES created a decrease in band gap energy. Remazol Yellow removal was found similar to 58.2% of which 13.8% was due to photocatalytic degradation with sample synthesized in co-existence of APTES and EA. First-order kinetic fitted removal data well. Proposed model assumed, firstly dye molecules adsorbed, then some adsorbed molecules degraded by visible light.