(117an) Photocatalytical Degradation of Congo Red (CR) Dye By Nano Titanium Dioxide Coated Glass Bead Under UV Light

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nano-scale particles were synthesised and coated firmly on soda lime glass beads were used as the catalyst for degradation of Congo red (CR) Dye. Sol-gel method was used for the for synthesising fine and uniformly dispersed nano-sized TiO₂ (n-TiO₂) particles followed by imobilising on the soda lime glass beads by dry mixing and heating. These imoblised TiO₂-glass bead catalyst was packed in glass columns to form a reactor for evaluating the performance of the catalyst for photo-catalytic degradation of Congo-red (CR) dye in the presence of ultraviolet radiation. The effect of calcinations temperature on the TiO₂ Anatase and Rutile phase transformation; preparation of Glass surface (etching) and effect of glass support on the catalyst performance; the CR dye concentration used and pH of solution; the dye degradation in dark condition and the impact of U.V light exposure; the duration of U.V. light irradiation and its impact on the dye degradation; the catalyst (n-TiO₂) loading used with the catalyst regeneration were some of the parameters studied to evaluate and optimise the performance of the n-TiO₂ coated glass beads. It was observed that increasing the calcination temperature resulted in the phase transformation of anatase to rutile phase with complete rutile phase transformation at 800^o C calcination temperature. The U.V. spectroscopy studies signified that photo-catalytic degradation is optimised in acidic zone as lower pH favored the formation of more soluble CR ions. A reduction in the n-TiO₂ desecration was observed with profound catalyst regeneration cycle up to five times for the same catalyst used due to the employed glass bead support. The U.V. light has optimised the CR dye degradation with 66% photo-catalytic dye degradation in just 10 minutes of the U.V. exposure. The TiO₂ spherical structure and nano-sized particles formation was confirmed by SEM analysis and recorded in the range of 130 to 270 nm. The elemental analysis was evaluated by EDX analysis and XRD analysis detected no characterization peaks other than TiO₂, signifying the synthesis of pure TiO₂ in the presented study. The surface area was measured using BET technique and was found 26.18 and 5.32 m²/g for Titania samples prepared at 600° C and 800° C calcinations temperature respectively. U.V. spectrophotometer analysis appraised the CR dye degradation.