Photocatalytic Degradation of Synthetic OrganicReactive Dye Wastewater Using GO-TiO<sub>2</sub>Nanocomposite

Abstract

One of the major sources of organic pollution is textile dyes, which are also considered toxic and carcinogenic. Among these dyes, azo is one of the main hazardous dyes that cause skin problems and tumors. To remove these organic pollutants, conventional methods such us physicochemical, biological and mechanical treatments are employed currently. Photocatalysis, one of the latest physio-chemical methods for the removal of organic pollutants from effluents, is employed in this study. The present work focuses on the synthesis of graphene oxide (GO) using modified Hummer's method. This is followed by preparation of nanocomposite catalyst GO-titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) using the ultra-sonication method. GO and GO-TiO 2 nanocomposite was characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM/HRSEM). The prepared nanocomposite was used as a catalyst in photocatalysis to treat dye-affected wastewater. The effect of time, dye concentration, catalyst dosage, and pH were studied for the removal of orange ME2RL by photocatalysis using synthesized GO-TiO 2 , and the experiments revealed significant degradation of orange ME2RL dye. The catalyst was examined for recyclability five times and the results found for the 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th and 5 th studies were 99.6, 99.2, 98.8, 98.3 and 98 percentages, respectively. The results show the possibility of using GO-TiO 2 nanocomposite for the effective treatment of organic azo dyeaffected water by photocatalysis.