Photodegradation of aqueous eosin yellow dye by carbon-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> photocatalyst
Damodhar Ghime, Titikshya Mohapatra, Ananya Verma, Virendra Banjare, Prabir Ghosh
Abstract
Abstract In this study, a novel photocatalyst, carbon-doped TiO 2 was prepared via a sol-gel technique with titanium (III) chloride as a precursor. The characterization of C-doped TiO 2 was obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and BET surface area analyses. The prepared catalyst’s photocatalytic activity was investigated using UV irradiation for the photo-oxidation of eosin yellow (EY) dye. The photocatalysis of EY dye was performed under various experimental parameters such as solution pH and oxidant dosage (H 2 O 2 ). The prepared photocatalyst dosages were also taken separately to optimize process efficiency. About 77.43% of EY decolorization was obtained at an optimum pH of 3, and the performance was also observed by varying the oxidant concentration ranging from 5-10 mM. The % decolorization was higher for C-doped TiO 2 -200 photocatalyst (81.88%) compared to carbon-doped TiO 2 -400 photocatalyst (75.55%). It can be concluded that the carbon-doped TiO 2 , calcined at 200°C, can effectively decolorize EY dye in an aqueous medium.