The aim of this work is to optimize the functional factors that influence the efficiency of the photodegradation of methylene blue using SiO₂–TiO₂ nanoparticles on polyurethane foam reactor by UV-TiO₂ photocatalytic process. The experimental factors like dye concentration, pH value, temperature, reaction time are analyzed by RSM (Response Surface Methodology) to achieve the efficacy of the best textile dye decomposition. The effect of operational factors to check the photodegradation efficiency of the methylene blue (MB) for SiO₂ nanoparticles and SiO₂-TiO₂ nanoparticles are examined by response surface methodology and contour plots. The degradation percentage of MB by SiO₂ and SiO₂-TiO₂ nanoparticles are 40.32% and 67.01% respectively. The best values of MB decomposition is achieved by SiO₂-TiO₂ with 10 ppm initial dye concentration, pH 6.88, temperature of 32 ^oC and 480 min reaction time. The satisfactory results is obtained through the correlation of the experimental values and predicted data by regression analysis (R² = 0.9984).

Keywords: TiO2- SiO2 nanoparticles, Polyurethane foam, Photocatalytic degradation, Methylene blue, Response surface methodology