Effect of thickness on the photocatalytic performance of ZnO/SBR composites

Photocatalyst of zinc oxide/styrene butadiene rubber (ZnO/SBR) composite with 80/20 (wt./wt.) concentration were prepared by conventional rubber processing technique. The composite was mixed using two-roll mills at 27 °C for 10 min and compressed into a flat sheet with a thickness ranging from 0.15 to 1.08 mm. The characteristics of photocatalyst were studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The photocatalyst activity of ZnO/SBR was evaluated using methylene blue (MB) as a pollutant under visible light. The ZnO/SBR with 0.54 mm thickness showed the highest performance of photodegradation of MB compared to other thicknesses. This is due to the sheet buoyancy increasing the light-capturing ability.