Removal of methylene blue dye aqueous solution using photocatalysis

Abstract

The nano sized TiO₂ and ZnO are the most active photocatalysts. Methylene blue was used as a reference molecule for the photocatalytic degradation. The TiO₂and ZnO can totally remove methylene blue dye. The effect of various process parameters like initial concentration, contact time, dose of catalyst and pH on the extent of removal of dye by photocatalysis in presence of TiO₂ and ZnO was studied. The results showed that the percentage of dye removal increases with increase in contact time. The optimum contact time was fixed at 180 minutes for both nanomaterials. The results of this study reveal that the dyes could be removed by semiconducting nanomaterials assisted photocatalytic degradation. The semiconducting materials were analyzed by XRD and SEM before and after degradation of methylene blue.