An efficient nanosized strontium fluoride-loaded titania for azo dye (RY 84) degradation with solar light

Strontium fluoride-loaded titanium dioxide (SrF2-TiO2) was successfully synthesized by a sol–gel method and characterized by Fourier transform infrared and diffuse reflectance spectroscopies, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopies, X-ray diffractometry, cyclic voltammetry and Braunauer–Emmer–Teller surface area measurements. SrF2-TiO2 is found to be more efficient than bare TiO2 in the degradation of Reactive Yellow 84 (RY 84) under solar light at pH 5. SrF2 loading shifts the absorption edge to visible region resulting in the increase of solar photocatalytic activity. The effects of operational parameters such as the amount of photocatalyst, dye concentration, initial pH on photomineralization by SrF2-TiO2 have been analyzed. The mineralization of RY 84 has been confirmed by chemical oxygen demand (COD) measurements. Mechanism of dye degradation by SrF2-TiO2 is proposed on the basis of hole trapping property of SrF2. The catalyst is found to be stable and reusable. Reusability under solar light makes this process more economical for treatment of industrial effluent.

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