Semiconductor coupled solar photo-Fenton´s treatment of dyes and textile effluent

Abstract

. NanoTiO 2 was synthesized by ultrasonication assisted sol-gel process and subjected to iron doping and carbon-iron codoping. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, HR-SEM, EDX, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and BET specific surface area analysis. The average crystallite size of pure TiO 2 was in the range of 30 - 33 nm, and that of Fe-TiO 2 and C-Fe TiO 2 was in the range of 7 - 13 nm respectively. The specific surface area of the iron doped and carbon-iron codoped nanoparticles was around 105 m 2 /g and 91 m 2 /g respectively. The coupled semiconductor photo-Fenton’s activity of the synthesized catalysts was evaluated by the degradation of a cationic dye (C.I. Basic blue 9) and an anionic dye (C.I. Acid orange 52) with concurrent investigation on the operating variables such as pH, catalyst dosage, oxidant concentration and initial pollutant concentration. The most efficient C-Fe codoped catalyst was found to effectively destruct synthetic dyes and potentially treat real textile effluent achieving 93.4% of COD removal under minimal solar intensity (35-40 kiloLUX). This reveals the practical applicability of the process for the treatment of real wastewater in both high and low insolation regimes.