Synthesis and application of barium ferrite/activated carbon composite as an effective solar photocatalyst for discoloration of organic dye contaminants in wastewater

Abstract

Barium ferrite and activated carbon were made into a composite to use as photocatalyst for discoloration of organic dyes. The synthetic composite and pure barium ferrite samples were characterized with different techniques. Adsorption studies revealed that the adsorption behavior follows the Langmuir adsorption model and adsorption is favorable in all studied concentrations. The effect of various parameters viz. catalyst synthetic temperature as well as catalyst loading, irradiation intensity and reusability on discoloration reaction was evaluated. More efficient composite was obtained when the synthetic temperature raised from 700°C to 1000°C.Additionally, it was noted that degradation increases with increasing catalyst loading from 1 to 10g/L and particularly with increasing irradiation intensity from 3500 to 26,000lx, suggesting a photochemical reaction actually occurs. A comparison between the composite and pure barium ferrite showed that activated carbon in the composite structure enhances the photocatalytic activity. The higher activity of composite compared to pure barium ferrite was assigned to higher adsorption affinity of the composite for organic dyes, leading to a synergy between activated carbon and barium ferrite in photocatalytic activity of the composite. The synthetic composite was found to be an effective and reusable photocatalyst against organic dyes.