Photodegradation of aqueous eosin yellow dye by carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalyst

Abstract

In this study, a novel photocatalyst, carbon-doped TiO2 was prepared via a sol-gel technique with titanium (III) chloride as a precursor. The characterization of C-doped TiO2 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 (H2O2). 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 TiO2-200 photocatalyst (81.88%) compared to carbon-doped TiO2-400 photocatalyst (75.55%). It can be concluded that the carbon-doped TiO2, calcined at 200°C, can effectively decolorize EY dye in an aqueous medium.