Discoloration and degradation of textile dye aqueous solutions with titanium oxide catalysts obtained by the sol–gel method

Abstract

In this work, we report the preparation of TiO 2 catalysts by the sol–gel method from two different alkoxide precursors: titanium (IV) tetrabutoxy and titanium (IV) isopropoxide, called TiO 2-TBOTC and TiO 2-IPOTC, respectively. The catalysts were used in the photocatalytic discoloration and degradation of textile dye C.I. reactive orange-122 aqueous solutions. TiO 2-TBOTC discolored dye solutions 100% in 40 min with maximum TOC reduction of 65.8%, in contrast to TiO 2-IPOTC, which required 20 min of reaction and yielded maximum TOC reduction of 27.7%. Photocatalyst TiO 2-TBOTC is more efficient than TiO 2-IPOTC.