Degradation of acid red 88 by the combination of sonolysis and photocatalysis

Abstract

Acid red 88 (AR88) is a mono-azo textile dye and a widely used colorant in the textile and food industries. The sonolytic, photocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic degradation of AR88 in the presence of homogeneous (Fe 3+) and heterogeneous (TiO2) photocatalysts were studied. The effects of initial dye concentration and ultrasound power on the sonochemical degradation were also investigated. The degradation by sonolysis and photocatalysis followed first-order like kinetics with respect to the concentration of AR88. The sonophotocatalytic degradation rates using TiO 2 or Fe3+ were found to be higher than that observed with sonolysis or photocatalysis. The synergy index calculated for TiO2 sonoph..