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Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Reactive Dyes over FeTiO3/TiO2 Heterojunction in the Presence of H2O2

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Abstract

In this work, photocatalytic degradation of two reactive dyes, Reactive Yellow 84 (RY 84) and Reactive Black 5 (RB 5), on FeTiO3/TiO2 heterojunction in the presence of UV–visible radiation and H2O2 has been reported. FeTiO3/TiO2 heterojunction has been prepared from ilmenite FeTiO3 and anatase TiO2 by employing oxalic acid as an organic linker. FeTiO3/TiO2 ratios have been varied from 1 to 5 wt.%, and the materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and diffused reflectance UV–visible spectroscopic analysis. The photocatalytic activity of FeTiO3/TiO2 heterojunction for the degradation of the organic dyes RY 84 and RB 5 in the presence of UV–visible light was found to be higher than that of pure TiO2. The addition of H2O2 increases the rate of degradation of both dyes on FeTiO3/TiO2 heterojunction. It facilitates the fast degradation of dye solutions even when their concentration was above 100 mg/l, which is otherwise very slow due to the low transmittance of light by the dye solution. The extent of mineralisation of the reactive dye during photocatalytic degradation was estimated from chemical oxygen demand analysis. FeTiO3/TiO2 heterojunction photocatalyst was also found to have good photostability; the material retains almost 97 % of its initial activity even in the fifth cycle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Periyar University, Salem, 636 011, India

    Santhanam Sivakumar, Ayyasamy Selvaraj & Anaipalayam Kandasamy Ramasamy

  2. Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, AMET University, Kanathur, Chennai, 603 112, India

    Vadivelu Balasubramanian

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  1. Santhanam Sivakumar
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  2. Ayyasamy Selvaraj
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  3. Anaipalayam Kandasamy Ramasamy
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Correspondence to Anaipalayam Kandasamy Ramasamy.

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Sivakumar, S., Selvaraj, A., Ramasamy, A.K. et al. Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Reactive Dyes over FeTiO3/TiO2 Heterojunction in the Presence of H2O2 . Water Air Soil Pollut 224, 1529 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1529-x

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