PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF ORGANIC DYES IN THE PRESENCE OF NANOSTRUCTURE METAL OXIDES

Abstract

Degradation of organic dyes present in wastewater effluents is an environmental concern. Among the various methods used in the removal of organic dyes, photocatalytic degradation process is one of the most promising methods in this field. The purpose of the present research is to remove organic dyes from wastewater and mineralize it to CO2 and H2O using photocatalytic degradation process with ZnO as a primarily metal oxide and Acid Yellow99 dye as a model of the organic compound, enhancing the photocatalytic activity of the metal oxide by loading an appropriate amount of metallic silver on it, obtain the optimum conditions of the photodegradation process which give the highest removal of organic compounds, and produce a conceptual design and cost evaluation for a photocatalytic treatment unit.