Abstract
In the present work, rock dust was evaluated as an adsorbent and heterogeneous photocatalyst in the discoloration of Basazol Yellow 46 L dye, which is widely used in the dyeing of molded pulp packages. Although rock dust is produced in large quantities in quarries as a byproduct of rock exploration, little is known about its application as a photocatalyst. Rock dust was characterized by XRD, SEM/EDS, photoacoustic spectroscopy, and N2 physisorption and had its photocatalytic activity assessed through phenol and salicylic acid degradation tests. The characterization results showed that the rock dust is mainly composed of silica and alumina in a triclinic structure, has a bandgap energy of 2.36 eV, and has a specific area of 1.5 m2/g. Rock dust was proven to be photocatalytically active in phenol and salicylic acid degradation tests and also presented the adsorptive and photocatalytic capacity for the discoloration of effluent containing Basazol Yellow 46 L dye.
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