V.K. Gupta et al.

/ Materials Science and Engineering C 31 (2011) 1062–1067 1062

Materials Science and Engineering C 31 (2011) 1062–1067

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Materials Science and Engineering C

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msec

Removal of the hazardous dye—Tartrazine by photodegradation on titanium dioxide

surface
Vinod K. Gupta a,b,⁎, Rajeev Jain c, Arunima Nayak a, Shilpi Agarwal c, Meenakshi Shrivastava c
Keywords: dose. In order to evaluate the effect of electron acceptor, the effect of H 2O2 on the degradation process was also monitored and
Photo catalytic degradation it was found that the hydroxyl radical formation and retardation of electron–hole recombination took place simultaneously.
Titanium dioxide The adsorption studies of tartrazine at various dose of TiO 2 followed the Langmuir isotherm trend. In order to determine the
Tartrazine quality of waste water, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) measurements were carried out both before and after the treatment
UV light
and a significant decrease in the values was observed, implying good potential of this technique to remove tartrazine dye from
aqueous solutions.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

a
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Department of Chemistry, Roorkee, 247667, India b King Fahd
University of Petroleum and Minerals, Chemistry Department, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia c Jiwaji University,
Department of Environmental Chemistry, Gwalior-474011, India

article info abstract

Article history: The removal of the dye—tartrazine by photodegradation has been investigated using titanium dioxide surface as photocatalyst
Received 8 November 2010 under UV light. The process was carried out at different pH, catalyst dose, dye concentration and effects of the electron
Received in revised form 8 March 2011 acceptor H2O2. It was found that under the influence of TiO2 as catalyst, the colored solution of the dye became colorless and
Accepted 10 March 2011 the process followed a pseudo first order kinetics. The optimum conditions for the degradation of dye were 6×10 −5 M dye
Available online 17 March 2011 concentration, pH of 11, and 0.18 mg/L of catalyst

1. Introduction and physico-chemical methods. Alternative methods, such as

Almost every industry uses dyestuffs to dye their products. Over
7×105 tons and approximately 10,000 different types of dyes and
pigments are produced worldwide annually. It is estimated that 10% to
15% of the dye is lost in the effluent during the dyeing process [1,2].
Discharge of such effluents into the ecosystem is a source of aesthetic
pollution, eutrophication and perturbations to aquatic life. Recent
reports reveal that several color-causing substances are micro-toxic to
aquatic biota [3–5]. Amongst the different industrial wastewaters with
different types of color-causing substances, synthetic textile organic
dye wastes occupy a prominent position. As international
environmental standards are becoming more stringent, technological
systems for the removal of such dyes have been developed. The
treatment of textile wastewaters in order to reduce visual color and
dissolved organic contaminants to meet the increasing environmental
demands has continued to attract the interest of research groups [6–
15]. Most textile dyes are photo catalytically stable and refractory
towards chemical oxidation [16] and these characteristics render them
resistant towards decolonization by conventional, biochemical
⁎ Corresponding author at: Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Department of Chemistry,
Roorkee, 247667, India. Tel.: +91 1332285801; fax: +91 1332273560. E-mail addresses:
vinodfcy@gmail.com, vinodfcy@iitr.ernet.in (V.K. Gupta).
0928-4931/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.msec.2011.03.006
activated carbon adsorption and dissolved air flotation are not only
costly but result in phase transfer of pollutants. Hence there is
considerable current interest in developing alternative and more
cost-effective methods. Photocatalytic oxidation using a
semiconductor such as TiO2 as photocatalyst is one of the advanced
cost effective, clean and green technology which has attracted
considerable attention for the eradication of toxic organic and
inorganic pollutants from wastewater [17]. The ability of this
technique to completely degrade organics into water and carbon
dioxide, without generating any harmful byproducts has
popularized its role as a waste water purifier [18–22]. This
technique has also been employed for the photomineralisation of a
large number of dyes such as methylene blue, azo dyes etc.
Titanium dioxide which is a metal oxide semiconductor is the most
favored material in this technique, since it is chemically and
biologically inactive, cheap, photostable and very photoactive,
although it has a large band gap (3.2 eV) and only absorbs in the
UV region.
There are three different types of titanium dioxide, anatase,
rutile and brookite. Most of the studies have been carried out with
anatase and rutile types. The adsorptive affinity of the anatase type
for the degradation of organic compounds is larger than that of
rutile type.
Irradiation of TiO2 particles with photons of energy equal to greater
than the band gap energy (hνNEg=3.2 eV; λb390 nm) results in the
promotion of anelectron from valence band (vb) to the conduction
band (cb) of the particle. TheanataseTiO 2 has a band gap energy of
3.2 eV. The outcome of this process is the region of positive charge
in the vb, termed as hole (h +) and a free electron (e −) in the cb (Eq.
(1)):
TiO2 þ hν→TiO2ðhþ þ e−Þ
The photo generated holes migrate to the particle surface to react
with the surface bound hydroxyl groups (OH¯) and water molecules
(H2O) to form hydroxyl (OH.) radical (Eqs. (2) and (3)) [14].
hþ þ OH−→Hþ þ OH•
hþ þ H2O→Hþ þ OH•
The generation of OH• depends on the solution pH.
The photo generated electrons react with adsorbed molecular O 2,
reducing it to superoxide radical anion O2•− (Eq. (4)):
O2 þ e−→O2•−
In the absence of an electron acceptor, electron–hole
recombination predominates. The presence of oxygen prevents
recombination by trapping electrons through the formation of
superoxides ions, thereby maintaining electron neutrality within the
TiO2 molecule.
The final product of the reduction is commonly hydroxyl
radicals (OH•). The hydroxyl radicals are known to be powerful,
indiscriminate oxidizing agents. During photocatalytic reactions,
they can react with organic compounds and bacterial species
adsorbed onto, or very close to the semiconductor surface, resulting
in complete degradation into small inorganic species (Eqs. (5) and
(6))
OH• þ RH→H2O þ R•
R• þ O2→ROO•→CO2
This technique has been used for the removal of dye pollutants
from residual textile treatment waters [23–33]. Interest in this photo
catalytic process stems mainly from its low cost, combined with the
non-toxicity, insolubility, stability, high photo activity of the
catalyst (TiO2).
The dye “tartrazine” chosen as model compound for the present
study finds vast applications. Tartrazine is an acidic azo dye with a
sulfonic group as an auxochrome that is highly water soluble and
polar. It is widely used to dye sweets, chewing gum, jellies,
puddings, juices, jams, mustard, sodas, drugs and cosmetics [34].
Tartrazine has been implicated as the food additive, most often
responsible for allergic reactions, having thus been targeted by the
scientific community. Although urticaria, asthma, purpura and
eczema have been described, chiefly affecting individual's allergy to
aspirin, the underlying immunologic mechanism has proved elusive
[35]. Some authors have studied the carcinogenetic and mutogenetic
effects of tartrazine with variable results [36–39].
Thus keeping the hazardous and toxic effect in view, it was
considered worthwhile to carry out a systematic TiO 2- catalyzed
photodegradation of Tartrazine dye under UV light. In order to
develop a practical waste water treatment system, the present study
has given major emphasis on various operational and kinetic
parameters. Results are presented for the kinetics of degradation of
Tartrazine under different conditions, such as reaction pH, substrate
and catalyst concentration, and presence of an electron acceptor.
2. Materials and methods
Water soluble dye, tartrazine (Fig. 1) selected for the present
investigation was obtained from Aldrich. Anatase titanium dioxide
(325 mesh), 99% used as such without further treatment was also
obtained from Aldrich. Other chemicals used in the study such as
HNO3, NaOH, H2O2 etc were obtained from Merck. For
photocatalytic degradation,
+ -
NaOOC
+ - N
NaO 3 S N N
N
O - +
SO 3 Na
Fig. 1. Structure of Tartrazine dye.
0.01 M stock solution of Tartrazine dye was prepared in double
distilled water. Aqueous solutions of desired concentrations were
prepared from
stocksolutions.Doubledistilledwaterwasusedfornecessarydilutions.All
laboratory reagents used were of analytical grade.
2.1. Instrumentation
Experiments were carried out in an ultra-violet photocatalytic
reactor using a 6-W UV lamp, placed inside the wall of a Quartz glass
photo reactor of capacity 150 mL. To prevent UV radiation leakage the
reactor was covered with a black color wooden box. The lamp emits
predominantly UV radiation of 10 mW/cm 2 at a wavelength of 254 nm.
The UV intensity of reactor can be varied from 8 mW/cm 2 to 16
mW/cm2.
pH metric measurements were done on Decibel DB 1011 digital
pH meter fitted with a glass electrode, which was previously
standardized with buffers of known pH in acidic and alkaline medium.
For carrying out the COD experiments, reagents were prepared as per
standard methods (APHA, 1991) [40]. Usual 2 h open reflux method
was applied for the COD determination. Chemical oxygen demand
(COD) of colored and photocatalysed solutions was recorded using
COD digestion apparatus (Spectra lab-2015-S).
2.2. Procedures and analysis for photocatalytic studies
To carry out the photocatalytic reactions, 100 mL of a dye solution
of desired concentration (varying from 2×10 −5 M to 8×10−5 M) was
taken in a 250 mL flask, maintained at desired pH (varying from 2.2 to
11) and an appropriate amount (varying from 2 to 20 mg) of solid TiO 2
catalyst was added into it at 30 °C. The pH of the solution was kept
constant by adding 0.1 M NaOH or 0.1 M HNO3. The mixture was
irradiated with UV light to provide energy to excite TiO 2 loading. To
ensure thorough mixing of the TiO 2 catalyst, oxygen was continuously
bubbled from the side of the reactor. About 2–3 mL aliquot of the dye
was withdrawn after a specific time interval (varying from 10 to 60
min) and analyzed spectrophotometrically at λmax 429 nm after
centrifugation. The rate of decrease of color with time was
continuously monitored. Once the dye solution became completely
colorless, the reaction was thought to be completed. At this stage
measurements were stopped and the solution was withdrawn from the
reactor. All experiments were carried out at room temperature (30 °C).
It was found that at all pHs and dye concentrations, a pseudo first
order kinetics for the photocatalytic oxidation process was followed.
The decolorization rate constant was determined from (Eq. (7)) [15]:
 V.K. Gupta et al. / Materials Science and Engineering C 31 (2011) 1062–1067
ln Cð t = CoÞ = −k t
where
Co dye concentrations (g/L) at times t=0
Ct dye concentration (g/L) at time t=t, k
pseudo first order rate constant (min−1)
The decolorization rate constants were determined from the slopes
of the plots of ln (Ct/Co) vs time.
1064 V.K. Gupta et al. / Materials Science and Engineering C 31 (2011) 1062–1067
The rate constant of the reaction (k) was determined using the
expression (Eq. (8)) [15]:
ð Þk = 2:303 × Slope
2.3. Adsorption studies
Adsorption experiments were carried out at 30 °C using batch
technique. Different initial dye concentration (2×10 −5 M to 8×10−5 M)
was prepared by diluting 0.01 M stock solution in a series of 100 mL
graduated conical flask containing 25 mL of solution of each
concentration. For every adsorption isotherm study, a series of
volumetric flasks containing equal volumes (25 ml) of adsorbate
solutions at varying
concentrationswereemployedatdesiredpH(rangingfrom2.2to11).The
pH of the solution was kept constant by adding 0.1 M NaOH or 0.1 M
HNO3. A fixed amount of TiO2 of particle size 325 mesh was then
added in to each flask and was intermittently agitated. The mixture was
irradiated with UV light to provide energy to excite TiO 2 loading. To
ensure thorough mixing of the TiO 2 catalyst, oxygen was continuously
bubbled from the side of the reactor. Water samples were drawn from
each flask after regular intervals to calculate the progress of
adsorption. When the equilibrium was thought to be established,
supernatant was carefully filtered through Whatmann filter paper (No.
41) and analyzed by Spectronic 20 D+Thermospectronic
Spectrophotometer at λmax 429 nm. The experiments were repeated
three times and average values were reported. Standard deviations
were found to be +/−1.4%. Further error bars for the figures were so
small as to be smaller than the symbols used to plot the graphs and
hence, not shown. The dye uptake q e (mol/g) was determined by (Eq.
(9)) [15]
qe = ðC0−CÞV= W
where
C0 initial dye concentration (mol/L)
C final dye concentrations
(mol/L), V volume of solution (L) and W
weight of adsorbent (g).
The data obtained from the adsorption experiments were fitted to
the Langmuir equation [41] represented by (Eq. (10)).
1 1 1 1
=+; ð10Þ qe Q0 bQ0 Ce
where Ce is the concentration of the dye in solution at equilibrium, q e is
the amount of dye adsorbed per unit weight of the catalyst at
1064
equilibrium, b is the Langmuir adsorption constant, and Q 0 is the
amount of dye adsorbed corresponding to monolayer coverage.
2.4. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) studies
The chemical oxygen demand test is widely used as an effective
technique to measure the organic strength of wastewater. The test
allows the measurement of waste in terms of the total quantity of
oxygen required for the oxidation of organic matter to CO 2 and water.
In the present work results of chemical oxygen demand were taken as
one of the parameters to judge the feasibility of the photochemical
process for the degradation of colored dye solution. Photocatalytic
experiments were run on (TiO2 +UV+H2O2). Tartrazine dye (100 mL),
the catalyst dose (0.18 g/L) and H2O2 were taken in a photochemical
reactor and exposed to UV light for up to 40 min. Dye samples of
about 2–3 mL were taken out at a regular interval from the test
solution, centrifuged for 15–20 min and their absorbance was recorded
at 429 nm.
2.5. Quality assurance/quality control
To establish the accuracy, reliability and reproducibility of the
collected data, all the tests were replicated thrice and the
experimental blanks were run in parallel. Check standards and
blanks were run. Multiple sources of National Institute of Standard
and Technology (NIST) traceable standards were used for
instrument calibration and standard verification. All jars, conical
flasks, and containers used in the study were prepared by soaking in
5% HNO3 solution for a period of 3 days before being doubly rinsed
with distilled, deionised water and oven dried. In different
experiments, blanks were run and corrections made wherever
necessary. All observations were recorded in triplicate and average
values were reported.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Preliminary observations
Photocatalytic studies were carried under three different
conditions, that is
1. by keeping the TiO2 containing solution in the absence of UV light
but in the presence of TiO2 and O2,
2. in the presence of UV light but in the absence of TiO2 and O2; and
3. Finally in the presence of UV light, TiO2 and O2.
The results obtained are presented in Fig. 2, where a plot of
absorbance vs. contact time under above mentioned three
conditions at pH 11 and concentration 6.0×10 −5 M of tartrazine is
presented. It is apparent from the figure that in the absence of UV
light and O2, TiO2 does not catalyze the degradation of the dye. Fig.
2 also indicates that the absorbance of dye solution does not change
much in the absence of TiO2 solution and in the presence of UV
light. But the reaction is very slow in the absence of both TiO 2 and
O2. However with the introduction of small amount of TiO 2 into the
solution in the presence of UV light and O 2, the absorbance of the
dye decreases. This clearly indicates that the presence of TiO 2
strongly affects the photodegradation of Tartrazine in the presence
of UV light.
3.2. Effect of catalyst concentration on photocatalytic degradation
The effect of photocatalyst concentration on the degradation
kinetics of tartrazine was investigated in the run (UV+TiO 2)
employing different concentrations of anatase TiO 2 varying from
0.02 g/L to 0.2 g/L at a fixed dye concentration of 6×10−5 M.
 The degradation efficiency for catalyst loading of tartrazine is surface of TiO2. Thus, an increase in the number of substrate ions
depicted in Fig. 3, which reveals that initial slopes of the curves accommodating in the interlayer spacing inhibits the action of the
increase greatly by increasing catalyst loading from 0.02 to 0.18 g/L catalyst which thereby decreases the reactive OH• and O22− free
and thereafter the rate of degradation remains almost constant. radicals attacking the dye molecules and degradation efficiency
[49]. Neppolian et al. [50] also observed similar results while
0.25
conducting photocatalytic degradation of three commercial textile
log absorbance
dyes (Reactive yellow, Reactive red and Reactive blue) using TiO 2
0.2 as photocatalyst under solar light.
( a)

0.15 ( b)
(c)
0.1 5
4.5
0.05 -1 4
, min
3.5
3
0 k x2.5
-2 10
0 20 40 60 80
2
Time in min
1.5
1
Fig. 2. Photocatalytic degradation of tartrazine (a) in absence of UV light but 0.5
presence of TiO2 and oxygen (b) in presence of UV light but in absence of TiO 2 and 0
oxygen (c) in presence of TiO 2, oxygen and UV light, at conc. 6×10 −5M, pH 11.0 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
and temp. 30±0.1 °C. Dose in g/L
Hence, the maximum degradation is observed with 0.18 g/L dose of
TiO2. Similar investigations were carried out by Muruganandham Fig. 3. Variation of the rate constant with different concentrations of TiO 2 at
and Swaminathan [42]. The color removal rate increased conc.6×10−5 M, pH 11.0 and temp. 30±0.1 °C.
significantly by increasing the amount of catalyst. The increase in 4
the amount of catalyst increases the number of active sites on the 3.5
-1
, min
TiO2 surface that in turn increases the number of OH• and O2¯ 3
radicals. The photocatalytic destruction of other organic pollutants 2.5
has also exhibited a similar type of dependency on catalyst dose k
-2 x 10
2
[43,44]. This can be explained on the basis that optimum catalyst
loading is found to be dependent on initial solute concentration. 1.5
This is because with an increase of catalyst dosage, total active 1
surface area increases [45].At the same time, due to an increase in 0.5
the turbidity of the suspension and with high dose of photocatalyst, 0
there will be a decrease in penetration of UV light and hence 0 2 4 6 8 10
photoactivated volume of suspension decreases [46]. Thus it can be Dye conc. x 10-5 M
concluded that a higher dose of catalyst may not be useful both in
view of aggregation as well as reduced irradiation field due to light Fig. 4. Variation of the rate constant with different substrate concentrations at pH 11.0
scattering. Therefore, the catalyst dose 0.18 g/L was fixed for and temp. 30±0.1 °C.
further studies.

3.3. Effect of substrate concentration on photocatalytic degradation 3.4. Effect of pH on photocatalytic degradation

It is important both from the mechanistic and from the
application point of view to study the dependence of photocatalytic
reaction rate on the substrate concentration.
The effect of substrate (tartrazine) concentration on the rate of
photocatalysis was studied by varying the substrate concentration
from 2×10−5 M to 8×10−5 M at a fixed amount of catalyst (0.18 g/L),
and at pH 11. Fig. 4 exhibits the relationship of rate of
photodegradation and different concentrations of dye (2×10 −5 to
8×10−5 M). It is observed from Fig. 4, that the rate of
photodegradation decreases from 2×10−5 to 6×10−5 M and then it
becomes almost constant up to 8×10−5 M. Fig. 4 shows a high
efficiency at low initial concentration of dye (2×10 −5 M), which
decreased with the increase in substrate concentration from 2×10 −5
M to 6×10−5 M and then it became almost constant at 7×10 −5 M
onwards. Increasing the dye concentration from 2×10 −5 M to 8×10−5
M decreased the degradation efficiency from 96.12% to 41.89%.
Similar results were obtained earlier by other workers [47,48]. Such
observation stems from the fact that with the increase in initial
concentration of dye, keeping the UV light irradiation period and
catalyst dose constant, more dye molecules are adsorbed onto the
The pH of the reaction medium has a significant effect on the
surface properties of the TiO2 catalyst, which include the surface
charge of the particles, the size of the aggregate of catalyst particles it
forms, and the band edge position of TiO 2. Because a photocatalytic
degradation reaction takes place on the surface of the catalyst, the
photocatalyst reaction in general is pH dependent [51,52].The number
of positive charges on the TiO 2 surface decreases with increasing pH
and reaches zero at pHZPC. Therefore pH significantly affects the
adsorption–desorption properties of the model compounds on the
surface of the catalysts. The photocatalytic degradation of tartrazine
has been studied in the pH range of 2.2 to 11 at a fixed dye
concentration of 6×10−5 M and TiO2 dose (0.18 g/L). The results are
illustrated in Fig. 5. It is observed that the degradation rate increases in
the neutral to alkaline range as compared to the acidic pH conditions.
Enforcement of the reaction rate under alkaline conditions could be
attributed to the increase of hydroxyl ions, which in turn induces the
formation of more hydroxyl radical formation. The formed hydroxyl
radical initiates the degradation process.
3.5. Effect of electron acceptors on photocatalytic degradation
 V.K. Gupta et al. / Materials Science and Engineering C 31 (2011) 1062–1067
In photocatalytic degradation, it has been observed that an electron
acceptor like H2O2 is a key factor that can significantly influence the
degradation of the dye [18]. Experiments were conducted in the
UV+TiO2 with different amount of H2O2 ranging from 0.2 to 1.5 mM at
fixed dye concentration, catalyst amount and temperature; the results
of which are shown in Fig. 6. It is apparent from the figure that by
increasing the addition of H 2O2 the rate of degradation is markedly
enhanced. This phenomenon explaining the effect of H 2O2 as electron
acceptor can be attributed to the fact that in the presence of H 2O2, the
UV light induces the formation of OH•
1066
Fig. 8 illustrates the adsorption isotherm of tartrazine dye over
TiO2, where qe is plotted as a function of Ce in the presence of UV
light. Ce is the concentration of tartrazine remaining in the bulk
solution upon the attainment of adsorption equilibrium in the presence
of UV light and qe is the amount of dye adsorbed per unit weight of the
catalyst at equilibrium. The isotherm showed a type of L-shape (Fig.
8) according to the classification of Giles et al. [56]. The L-shape
isotherms mean that there is no strong competition between the solvent
and the dye to occupy the TiO2 surface sites.
2.20

)
-1
min 1.90
2 (
1.8 -2
k ×1.60
10
-1 1.6
, min
1.4
1.2 1.30
k x 10
-2 1
0.8 1.00
0.6 5 8 11 14 17
0.4
0.2 Intensity (mW/cm2)
0
2 4 6 8 10 12
Fig. 7. Variation of rate constant with different UV light intensity at conc. 6×10 −5M, pH
pH 11.0 and temp. 30±0.1 °C.
Fig. 8. Tartrazine adsorption isotherm on TiO2 (pH 11.0, temperature 30 °C).
Fig. 5. Variation of rate constantwith different pH at conc. 6×10 −5M and temp. 30±0.1
°C.
1066 V.K. Gupta et al. / Materials Science and Engineering C 31 (2011) 1062–1067
3 4.5

2.5
-1 4
3.5
-1

mol
min

2 3
L

2.5
,

-5

1.5
-2

2
kx

10
/qe x
10

1 1.5
0.5 1
0.5
1

0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Milimoles of H2O2
-5 -1
1/Ce x1 L
Fig. 6. Variation of rate constant with different concentrations of H 2O2 at conc.
0 mol
6×10−5M, pH 11.0 and temp. 30±0.1 °C.
3.8. Chemical oxygen demand (COD)

radicals from H2O2 [53,54] causing degradation of dye. The Comparison of the COD value of the initial dye solution with
phenomenon is better represented by (Eqs. (11)–(13)) photocatalysed solution indicates the COD value is substantially
H2O2 + hν→2OH• ðλb300 nmÞ ð reduced. It is observed that the COD value shows a significant
decrease from 1580 to 108 mg/L indicating good potential of
employing photocatalytic technique. The photodegradation
OH• + Dye→Dye intermediate ð efficiency was found to be 93.57%.

ð 4. Conclusion
OH• + Dye intermediate→Mineralization product:
3.6. Effect of illumination intensity on photocatalytic degradation
In order to study the variation in degradation rate of dye with UV
light intensity, the experiments were carried out at the optimum initial
concentration (6×10−5 M), catalyst dosage (0.18 g/L) and pH (11). The
range of light intensity selected for study was 8 mW/cm 2 to 14
mW/cm2. A linear relationship is observed between light intensity and
dye degradation rate constant as seen in Fig. 7. The rate of degradation
increases with increase in UV light intensity as more radiations fall on
the catalyst hence more OH radicals are produced which leads to high
rate of degradation [55].
3.7. Langmuir adsorption isotherm
Photocatalytic processes with UV light and anatase TiO 2
photocatalysts can be efficiently applied for the degradation of
hazardous dye Tartrazine. In particular the following conclusions
can be drawn from the results of the present study.
1. The photocatalytic process increased with increase in
catalystconcentration but decreased with increase in dye
concentration. The degradation rate of dye followed the pseudo-
first order kinetics. Alkaline pH was found to be favorable for
dye removal.
2. The maximum degradation efficiency of the dye was achieved
with the combination of UV+H2O2+TiO2
3. Significant reduction in COD values indicates good potential of
employing photocatalytic technique for dye removal from
wastewater.
A practical treatment system can thereby, be developed with
UV+H2O2+TiO2 for large scale waste water treatment of various
other dyes.
Acknowledgement
One of the authors (Arunima Nayak) is thankful to the Ministry
of Human Resource Development (MHRD), New Delhi, India, for
financial support.
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