Investigation of photocatalytic mineralisation of Acridine Yellow G dye by BaCrO4 in the presence of eco-friendly LEDs irradiation

Abstract

Degradation of toxic organic pollutants and dyes from industrial wastewater by photocatalysis is an environmentally friendly technique. The degradation of Acridine Yellow G (AYG) was investigated in aqueous solutions employing BaCrO4 as a heterogeneous photocatalyst under eco-friendly LED irradiation. We studied the mineralisation kinetics of AYG by monitoring the dye concentration and chemical oxygen demand (COD) as a function of time. The impact of pH, concentrationdye, reactants, catalyst, Fenton reagent, salt effect, and temperature on the kinetics were investigated. The initial addition of optimal amounts of hydrogen peroxide and potassium persulfate increased the degradation rate, while NaCl and Na2CO3 retarded the reaction. The efficiency of visible light, LED (12 ​W) irradiation, compared with the traditional visible light source, the halogen lamp (500 ​W). At the optimum pH 10, the AYG degradation obeyed pseudo-first-order kinetics. With BaCrO4 asa heterogeneous photocatalyst, complete mineralisation of AYG was achieved in 35 ​min. This process is green, eco-friendly, and the catalyst is easily recoverable and reusable five times without loss of catalytic efficiency.