Removal of Methylene Blue (MB) Dye from Textile Synthetic Wastewater Using TiO2/UV-C Photocatalytic Process

Dyes are structurally complex materials which enter the environment due to various textile industry processes like dyeing and cloth completion processes. Methylene blue (MB) is one of the cationic dyes which is now used in textile industry. The aim of this research was to study the efficiency of TiO2/UV-C photocatalytic process using batch reactor in removing MB from textile synthetic wastewater. In this research, titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-particles were used as a photocatalyst in presence of UV-C to remove MB dye. This study was carried out in a batch reactor (useful volume of a sample) on synthetic wastewater with dye concentrations of 15, 30 and 60 mg/L; the effect of some variables including dye initial concentration, TiO2 nano-particles concentration, radiation time and pH on efficiency of COD and dye removal was studied. Results revealed that removing MB had a direct relationship with radiation time. The best result in removing dye was achieved in concentration of TiO2=0.9 g/L, pH=3 and time=30 min. As dye concentration increased, speed of dye removal reduced. After dye removal, 47.1% of initial COD decreased too. Photocatalytic process of TiO2 nano-particles in presence of ultraviolet ray is able to remove dye completely and to reduce COD resulted from dye significantly.