Photodegradation of reactive blue 4 using suspension of anatase titanium dioxide and corn cob

Abstract

Textile dyeing often employs reactive dyes. The dye wastewater contains hazardous materials and is toxic to humans and the environment. Photodegradation using a semiconductor photocatalyst is a promising alternative approach for water purification and wastewater treatment. However, the photocatalyst’s low adsorption ability is a problem in the photocatalysis process. To compensate for this shortcoming, photocatalyst content must be combined with an adsorbent. Raw corn cob and titanium dioxide (TiO2) were used in this photocatalysis. Due to a synergistic impact, raw corn cob’s ability to adsorb and titanium dioxide’s ability to photodegrade organic pollutants from water bodies is expected to boost the removal performance. The degradation of Reactive Blue 4 (RB4) as a targeted dye was carried out in this research using a suspended mixture of commercial anatase TiO2 and raw corn cob under UV light. The effect of initial pH solution, initial dye concentration and contact time, TiO2-corn cob dosages, and the influence of other pollutants were investigated as factors influencing photodegradation-adsorption of RB4. FTIR and SEM analyses were performed to characterize the prepared materials. The high removal rate of RB4 was obtained at a low pH of 2 and RB4 concentration of 40 ppm. The increased dose of TiO2-corn cob improved the RB4 dye removal performance. The optimum percentage removal of RB4 was 92.65 % at pH 2, 40 ppm of RB4 concentration mixed with 1.2 g of TiO2-corn cob in 60 minutes of UV light irradiation. SEM observation revealed that corn cob surfaces are uneven and very porous in nature. FTIR test indicate the presence of functional group on the TiO2-corn cob helps in the adsorption of the RB4. In conclusion, combining photodegradation and adsorption systems as a hybrid treatment method resulted in a synergistic increase in RB4 removal performance.