Optimized photocatalytic degradation of Reactive Blue 2 by TiO2/UV process.

The photocatalytic degradation of synthetic dye solution of Reactive Blue 2 was investigated using UV irradiation in aqueous suspension of nanotitania as photocatalyst and H2O2 as electron acceptor in a slurry photoreactor. To determine the optimum condition of decolorization, the influential parameters including initial dye concentration, catalyst quantity, hydrogen peroxide concentration, pH value and UV light intensity were evaluated using the Taguchi statistical method. The results indicated that compared to the other parameters, UV light intensity was the most effective. The theoretically predicted value of decolorization efficiency (95.48%) was confirmed by the experimental value (95.22%). The mineralization was considered significant with regard to the obtained values of total organic carbon (TOC) analysis (92.52%) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) analysis (94.05%) in the optimum condition. Investigations were also carried out to determine the appropriate adsorption isotherm and kinetic model in the optimum condition. The obtained optimum condition for dye removal was finally examined applying a real sample of textile wastewater containing the dye.