EFFECT OF OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS ON PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF TOLUIDINE BLUE UTILIZING BiOCl NANOPLATES IN SOLAR LIGHT

Abstract

This work is devoted to the study of the effects of various operational parameters such asH2O2, K2S2O8, NaCl, Na2CO3, FeCl3, Fenton’s reagent, O2, N2 purging, effect of otherphotocatalysts on the photocatalytic degradation of toluidine blue dye by as synthesized nanoBiOCl under solar light in following conditions pH= 11, catalyst loading= 30 mg/100ml andinitial dye concentration= 4 × 10-5 mol L-1. Nano BiOCl was prepared by a simple hydrolysismethod at room temperature and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and HighResolution Field Emission Scanning Microscope (HR FESEM). XRD pattern suggested thatthe synthesized nano BiOCl was highly pure and crystalline, SEM images depicted theplatelike morphology of nano BiOCl. The average particle size of nano BiOCl was obtained as45 nm. It was observed that these operational parameters greatly influenced the rate ofphotocatalytic degradation. The optimum concentrations of oxidants, salts, FeCl3 andFenton’s reagent for photocatalysis of toluidine blue have also been obtained.