Photo-Degradation of Orange G as an Environmental Pollutant with TiO2-ZnO Composite Material

Abstract

The increasing water pollution is a great concern as millions of people don't have access to pure water in Bangladesh. A considerable number of people are dying of contaminated water each year not only in Bangladesh but all over the world. Many industries, tanneries, companies, etc. are emitting lots of environmentally hazardous materials into the surrounding water. Many of these pollutants are industrial dyes. The dyes loss from the industrial water during dyeing operation damage the esthetic merit of surface water. They minimize light penetration, hamper aquatic lives and hinder photosynthesis. Some dyes may also have toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic characteristics. The purpose of this research is to get rid of the pollutant dye Orange G before the water is contaminated. A method named photo-degradation using different light sources is used to mineralize Orange G dye with composite materials including TiO₂-ZnO. This composite was prepared by the hydrothermal method. The photocatalytic behavior of the prepared composite TiO₂-ZnO helps in minimizing the effect of this dye to save the water from contamination. The composite compoundwas studied by experimenting on photo-degradation with Orange G under different light sources such as visible light, UV light, and sunlight. The photo-degradation percentage was found to maximum of 79.60 in the presence of sunlight. The percentages of photo-degradation under UV light and visible light were 48.0 and 18.40 respectively.