Decolorization of Reactive Black 5 Dye by Heterogeneous Photocatalysis with TiO2/UV

Reactive Black 5 (RB5) is an azo dye widely used in the textile industry because of its high chemical stability. Since it does not entirely fix on the fabrics, it pollutes water sources. In this work, the decolorization of aqueous solutions with RB5 was performed by heterogeneous photocatalysis with TiO 2 /UV. The reaction was carried out in an aluminum photoreactor equipped with five lamps. The effect of TiO 2 (0.1, 0.175, and 0.25 g L -1 ), RB5 concentration (50, 75, and 100 mg L -1 ), and pH (3, 7, and 11) was evaluated for 14 h, using a Box–Behnken experimental statistical design. Complete decolorization of RB5 was obtained at 14 h, employing 0.175 g L -1 TiO 2 , 50 mg L -1 RB5, and pH 3. A 98.44% of decolorization was achieved in 10 h (0.25 g L -1 of TiO 2 , 50 mg L -1 of RB5, and pH 7). The highest decolorization percentage of RB5 (99.51%) was obtained at 10 h of exposure to UV light, using 0.5 g L -1 of TiO 2 , 50 mg L -1 of the dye, and a pH of 3. Cytotoxicity tests on the HepG2 cell line indicated that photocatalytic degradation of RB5 did not generate cytotoxic byproducts.