Photodegradation Studies on Orange G and Acid Blue 113: New Doped Rare Earth Nanometal Oxides as Visible Light Active Photo Catalyst

Dyes are a source of serious pollutants from different industrial outlets and show a major contribution in polluting the environment. In the present study two dyes namely Orange G and Acid Blue 113 were compared for their photodegradation efficiency employing rare earth nanometal oxide as a visible active photocatalyst. The prepared catalyst was nanocrystalline form with particle size 70 nm and the surface of the catalyst was highly porous and rough which facilitates the absorption of the dye further enhance the photo degradation which were confirmed by various characterization techniques. Effect of pH, variation of catalyst dosage, variation of initial dye concentration and kinetic studies were conducted for both the dyes. The reaction followed a pseudo first order kinetics. The activity of the prepared catalyst was higher when compared to a commercially used metal oxide. Reusability studies proved that the catalyst prepared was very active even upto the third cycle. The degradation process was initiated by the attack of the OH radical generated in the in-situ process via visible light irradiation. EPR spin trapping technique was employed to confirm the presence of OH radicals. The prepared catalyst degraded the dye molecules of interest in lesser time duration by absorption of visible light, thereby reducing the cost of photodegradation.