r purpose was to synthesize, characterize and test photodegradation of methyl orange on two catalysts containing 10 wt% titanium supported on mesoporous MCM-41 synthesized with rice husk silica. The first catalyst was Ti-RH-MCM-41 prepared by adding tetrabutyl orthotitanate (TBOT) in a synthetic gel of RH-MCM-41, and the second catalyst was TiO2/RH-MCM-41 prepared by grafting TBOT on the preformed RH-MCM-41. The mesoporous structures were observed on both catalysts and they had surface area of 1,073 and 1,006 m2/g. The Ti in Ti-RHMCM-41 was in the form of Ti(IV) with tetrahedral geometry residing in the mesoporous structure. This form was less active for photodegradation of methyl orange than the other one. The Ti in TiO2/RH-MCM-41 was anatase titania with octahedral geometry located outside the mesoporous framework. This form was more an active phase for the photodegradation and the reaction parameters on this catalyst were further investigated. The optimum catalyst weight to
methyl orange volume ratio was 5 g/L and the optimum initial concentration of the dye was 2.0 ppm. The degradation rate obeyed pseudo-first order and the adsorption of methyl orange on TiO2/RH-MCM-41 obeyed Langmuir isotherm.