Photocatalytic degradation of orange II in aqueous solutions by immobilized nanostructured titanium dioxide

Abstract

This paper deals with the degradation of an organic dye by photocatalysis. The examined compound is Orange II. The adopted photoreactor consists of a bed of glass spheres coated by TiO(2), immobilized located in an inclined half pipe and irradiated at the top by an UV lamp. The nanostructured titania used for the glass coating was previously produced by wet chemical synthesis. The experimental work investigated the effect on the dye degradation of the following operating conditions: feed flow rate, coating procedure and UV wavelength. At the optimal operating conditions it was possible to reduce the organic content of the wastewater of 96% in 24 h residence time.