Photocatalytic Degradation of Basic Red 46 Azo Dye using Activated Carbon-doped ZrO2/UV Process

Dyes are complex organic compounds, which are widely used in textile, paper, and cosmetics industries. Dyes are also known environmental pollutants that must be removed to maintain environmentally friendly processes. For this purpose the use of advanced oxidation processes with use of highly active compounds such as hydroxyl radicals was proposed. In this study the photocatalytic degradation of BR46 cationic dye with the use of activated carbon-doped ZrO2 nanoparticle was investigated. Parametric study was performed for a range of pH (3–11), initial dye concentration (5-25 mg/ L), catalyst loading (0.03–0.18 g/ L), and UV lamp power (9-18 W). All testing were done in the 1 L cylindrical pyrex reactor with the height of 460 mm. The maximum removal efficiency of dye of 98.17% was observed for pH=11, initial concentration of dye = 15 (mg/L), catalyst loading= 0.15 (g/L) and UV lamp power = 18 W for a retention time of 120 min. The decolorization of BR46 followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic according to the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model (with kr = 1.135 mg/ L min, ke = 0.0124 L/ mg).