Factors influencing the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B by TiO2-coated non-woven paper

The photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) has been investigated in aqueous solutions using TiO2-coated non-woven paper as photocatalyst. The experiments were carried out to investigate the factors that influence the RhB photocatalytic degradation, such as adsorption, initial concentration of dye solution, temperature, and some inorganic species commonly present in real wastewaters such as Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, CH3COO− and HPO42−. The experimental results show that adsorption is an important parameter in controlling the apparent kinetic order of the degradation. The photocatalytic reaction is favoured by a high concentration in respect to Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation was temperature-dependent with a high degradation rate at high temperature. The presence of the Cl−, CH3COO− and HPO42− ions leads to the reduction of the effectiveness of the photodegradation. However, the presence of SO42− increases the rate of the degradation.