Photocatalytic Degradation of Commercial Textile Dye in Aqueous Buffer Solution using Anatase Titania

Textile dyes present in wastewater requires remover due to their hazardous and negative impacts on the environment. In this paper, the photocatalytic degradation of Vat Green 8 on anatase titania at a buffer pH of 7, 8 and 9 had been investigated. The effect of various operational parameters such as catalyst loading, pH, and initial dye concentration and irradiation time of the photocatalytic degradation was studied on a laboratory scale photoreactor containing a 100 W mercury bulb. Varying concentrations of the dye solution such as 5 mg/l, 12.5 mg/l and 20 mg/l was prepared and ran in the photoreactor and the dye removal was monitored using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The results obtained revealed that much of the dyes were removed at an optimum pH of 9 and a catalyst dose of 1 mg/l. The percentage efficiency of the colour remover reached a maximum of 99% at a dye concentration of 12.5 mg/l and irradiation time of 90 minutes.