Photocatalytic treatment of cibacron brilliant yellow 3G-P (reactive yellow 2 textile dye).

The photocatalytic treatment of a textile dye wastewater, cibacron brilliant yellow 3G-P (reactive yellow 2), under the presence of UV-A radiation was studied. Treatment of test solutions containing 100 mg/L cibacron brilliant yellow dye with two types of photocatalysts, Degussa P25 and Hombikat UV 100 titanium dioxide, were investigated. The efficiency of these two commercial photocatalysts was compared in the presence and absence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). H2O2 concentration of 15 mM showed the best efficiency toward the photocatalytic treatment of the textile dye at the concentrations tested. Both decolorization and mineralization were significantly improved by using 15 mM H2O2. The treatment efficiency of the photocatalytic degradation of reactive yellow 2 was determined in terms of both adsorption kinetics and total mineralization. The decolorization and mineralization followed first order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.09 min(-1) for decolorization with Degussa P25 titanium dioxide in the presence of H2O2. 71.3% chloride and 27.9% sulphate were yielded after complete decolorization in the photocatalytic treatment of the dye. However, only 0.78% yield of the nitrate was obtained by photocatalysis. The formation of intermediates was not significant compared to the original dye solution in terms of absorbance.