Discoloration of a red cationic dye by supported TiO2 photocatalysis

The degradation under UV, visible and sunlight irradiation of C.I. Basic Red 46 (BR 46) dye used for acrylic fibers dyeing has been studied in a lab-scale continuous system with two different immobilized TiO2 systems. Catalyst I was based on TiO2 particles deposited on cellulose fibers; Catalyst II combined TiO2 particles deposited on a layer of cellulose fibers (as in Catalyst I) with a layer of carbon fibers and finally a layer of cellulose fibers. The treatment of aqueous dye solutions and industrial wastewater contaminated with the same dye has been evaluated in terms of color removal and chemical oxygen demand (COD) decrease. With UV light, aqueous solutions containing dye were decolorized slightly more rapidly with Catalyst II than with Catalyst I. Sunlight was also very effective and experiments involving sunlight irradiation showed Catalyst II to be the more efficient, giving more than 90% discoloration after 20 min of treatment. Comparing the discoloration yield by adsorption or under visible light for both catalysts, it was observed that the difference between them is below 5%. The adsorption kinetics was found to follow a second-order rate law for Catalyst I and a first-order rate law for Catalyst II. The kinetics of photocatalytic degradation under UV or sunlight were found to follow a first-order rate law for both catalytic systems. Under sunlight the COD removal yield for textile wastewater reaches 33% with Catalyst I against 93% with Catalyst II.