Photocatalytic Degradation of Textile Dye by Using Titanium Dioxide Nanocatalyst

ABSTRACT: In the present work, degradation of commercial reactive Procion Yellow (PY) dye was studied using photocatalyst combinations (TiO2/UV/Solar/pH). For degradation of PY dye, batch experiments were carried out by irradiating the aqueous solution of dye, in the presence of semiconductors as titanium dioxide (TiO2). The effect of various parameters such as catalyst loading, pH, oxidant dose, intensity variations and initial concentration of the dye on degradation has been investigated. The effect of process parameters viz. pH (2–10), irradiation time, initial concentration of dye (50-200 ppm), UV intensity and photocatalyst loading (0.62–1.5 g/L) on degradation of dye has also been assessed. The experimental results indicated that 83.6 % degradation occurred at optimized conditions (Dye concentration 100 ppm, pH 7.8, TiO2 dose 0.5g/L, UV intensity 25 W/m2 and time 3.5h). The performance of the solar photocatalytic system appears to be a suitable alternative to TiO2 in the presence of UV light at natural pH.