EFFECT OF OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS ON PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF TOLUIDINE BLUE UTILIZING BiOCl NANOPLATES IN SOLAR LIGHT

This work is devoted to the study of the effects of various operational parameters such as H2O2, K2S2O8, NaCl, Na2CO3, FeCl3, Fenton's reagent, O2, N2 purging, effect of other photocatalysts on the photocatalytic degradation of toluidine blue dye by as synthesized nano BiOCl under solar light in following conditions pH= 11, catalyst loading= 30 mg/100ml and initial dye concentration= 4 × 10-5 mol L-1 . Nano BiOCl was prepared by a simple hydrolysis method at room temperature and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and High Resolution Field Emission Scanning Microscope (HR FESEM). XRD pattern suggested that the synthesized nano BiOCl was highly pure and crystalline, SEM images depicted the platelike morphology of nano BiOCl. The average particle size of nano BiOCl was obtained as 45 nm. It was observed that these operational parameters greatly influenced the rate of photocatalytic degradation. The optimum concentrations of oxidants, salts, FeCl3 and Fenton's reagent for photocatalysis of toluidine blue have also been obtained.