Treatment of Groundwater-Rich Organic Compounds Using Activated Carbon with Additional Germanium Dioxide (GeO): Kinetics and Adsorption Studies of Methylene Blue and Congo Red.

Activated carbon/GeO composites were synthesized using the sol-gel method and then used as catalysts for the photodegradation of organic pollutants methylene blue (MB) and congo red (CR). The composites were characterized using an X-ray diffractometer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to analyze the structure and chemical bonds of the composite materials, respectively. The ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption wavelength ranges of the composites toward the pollutants were 550-700 nm for MB and 450-550 for CR.