ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Photocatalytic Degradation of Synthetic Organic
Reactive Dye Wastewater Using GO-TiO2
Nanocomposite
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1
Effluent Treatment Laboratory, Chemical Engineering, A.C. Tech, Anna University, Chennai, India
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, Adhiyamaan College of Engineering, Hosur, India
Submission date: 2019-02-27
Final revision date: 2019-04-17
Acceptance date: 2019-04-28
Online publication date: 2019-12-16
Publication date: 2020-02-13
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2020;29(2):1683-1690
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ABSTRACT
One of the major sources of organic pollution is textile dyes, which are also considered toxic and
carcinogenic. Among these dyes, azo is one of the main hazardous dyes that cause skin problems and
tumors. To remove these organic pollutants, conventional methods such us physicochemical, biological
and mechanical treatments are employed currently. Photocatalysis, one of the latest physio-chemical
methods for the removal of organic pollutants from effluents, is employed in this study. The present work
focuses on the synthesis of graphene oxide (GO) using modified Hummer’s method. This is followed by
preparation of nanocomposite catalyst GO- titanium dioxide (TiO2) using the ultra-sonication method.
GO and GO-TiO2 nanocomposite was characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM/HRSEM). The prepared
nanocomposite was used as a catalyst in photocatalysis to treat dye-affected wastewater. The effect
of time, dye concentration, catalyst dosage, and pH were studied for the removal of orange ME2RL
by photocatalysis using synthesized GO-TiO2, and the experiments revealed significant degradation of
orange ME2RL dye. The catalyst was examined for recyclability five times and the results found for the
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th studies were 99.6, 99.2, 98.8, 98.3 and 98 percentages, respectively. The results
show the possibility of using GO-TiO2 nanocomposite for the effective treatment of organic azo dyeaffected
water by photocatalysis.