| Summary: | In the present work, photo-Fenton degradation of Sunset Yellow FCF under visible light was carried out by using copper loaded bentonite and hydrogen peroxide. The photocatalyst was prepared by loading copper ions on bentonite by wet impregnation method. The rate of photocatalytic degradation of dye was measured spectrophotometrically by measuring absorbance of the reaction mixture at regular time intervals. The effect of various parameters such as pH, concentration of dye, amount of photocatalyst, amount of H2O2 and light intensity on the reaction rate has also been studied. Characterization of photocatalyst has been done by IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of the reaction mixture has been determined before and after treatment. A tentative mechanism involving ·≡OH radical as an oxidant for degradation of dye has also been proposed. Involvement of ·≡OH radicals as an active oxidizing agent has been confirmed by using isopropanol and butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) as radical scavengers. It has been observed that the rate of reaction is drastically reduced in the presence of these scavengers. The rate of reaction is much retarded by using BHT as compared with isopropanol.
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