Titamium oxide (TiO2) assisted photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

The aqueous solution of methylene blue (MB) has been subjected to Photocatalytic degradation by UV radiation in presence of TiO2 photo-catalyst containing different concentrations of H2O2. The experiments conducted at different dye concentrations (12 and 20 ppm), catalyst loading, pH and H2O2 dosage (1-10 ml l(-1)), revealed that the degradation rate is strongly influenced by respective experimental parameters. However the influence of catalyst alone is not predominant in degradation. The decolorization of dye proceed to near completeness when H2O2 is used. The best degradation results are observed at 0.1 wt% of catalyst loading at pH 2 for TiO2/UV system. It has been found that the optimum concentration of H2O2 for 12 ppm and 20 ppm amount of the dye was 2 ml l(-1) for UV/H2O2 system. The kinetic of degradation of the dye followed the pseudo first order rate. The degradation studies using TiO2/UV/H2O2 system, indicates enhancement in the degradation rate of the dye compared to that of UV/H2O2 system alone.