Treatment of dye wastewater by using photo-catalytic oxidation with sonication.

The degradation of Acid Orange 52 in aqueous solutions was investigated by using three processes (photocatalysis, sonolysis, and photocatalysis with sonication). In the case of photocatalysis, although the concentration of Acid Orange 52 decreased to 35% in 480 min, the color of the solution was not disappeared. In the case of sonolysis, it was decomposed completely in 300 min, but the total organic carbon concentration decreased down by only about 13% in 480 min. In the case of photocatalysis with sonication, the concentration of Acid Orange 52 reached to 0 in 240 min and the total organic carbon concentration decreased by about 87% in 480 min. These results indicate that the ultrasonic irradiation enhanced the photocatalytic degradation. The addition of chloride ion (50 ppm) into Acid Orange 52 solution decreased the decomposition efficiency for photocatalysis. In the cases of sonolysis and photocatalysis with sonication, the decomposition efficiency did not change significantly by the addition of chloride ion. These results indicate that chloride ion disturbs the photocatalysis of dye, but the decomposition of dye using the irradiation of ultrasound is not influenced by chloride ion. From these results, it is considered that the photocatalysis with sonication is most effective for the decomposition of dye in the three processes in this study.