Degradation of tartrazine and hydrogen production simultaneously with combination of photocatalysis-electrocoagulation

Abstract

Degradation of tartrazine dye and the production of hydrogen simultaneously with a combination of photocatalysis and electrocoagulation has been investigated. The photocatalytic process was performed by using a catalyst of TiO2 nanotubes that had been synthesized by anodizing method. In electrocoagulation process used Al-SS 316 electrode with variation of voltage: 5V, 10V, and 15V. The structure of TiO2 catalyst with nanotubes morphology was characterized by SEM-Mapping, FTIR, XRD, and UV-Vis DRS. The optimum condition obtained from the electrocoagulation process is at a voltage of 15V with a test time of 4 hours. From the results of photocatalysis with TiO2 nanotubes obtained percent degradation of tartrazine dye equal to 48.86% and simultaneously produced 0.87 ml of H2 with concentration 3.46%. The use of aluminum plate as anode and 316 stainless steel plate as cathode in electrocoagulation process has also succeeded degrading tartrazine dye by 82.45% and produced 3.88 ml of H2 with concentration 12.14%. The result of the combination of photocatalysis and electrocoagulation process obtained degradation conversion of tartrazine dye by 90.68% with final dye concentration to 1.93 ppm and simultaneously H2 products as much as 5.97 ml with a concentration of 12.41% can be produced. The final concentration of tartrazine dye waste from combination of photocatalysis-electrocoagulation process is safe to be disposed into the environment because it meets the quality standard. In addition, the production of H2 has potential as a renewable energy source.