Fresnel lens to concentrate solar energy for the photocatalytic decoloration and mineralization of orange II in aqueous solution

The decoloration and mineralization of the azo dye orange II under conditions of artificial ultraviolet light and solar energy concentrated by a Fresnel lens in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and TiO2-P25 was studied. A comparative study to demonstrate the viability of this solar installation was done to establish if the concentration reached in the focus of the Fresnel lens was enough to improve the photocatalytic degradation reaction. The degradation efficiency was higher when the photolysis was carried out under concentrated solar energy irradiation as compared to UV light source in the presence of an electron acceptor such us H2O2 and the catalyst TiO2. The effect of hydrogen peroxide, pH and catalyst concentration was also determined. The increase of H2O2 concentration until a critical value (14.7 mM) increased both the solar and artificial UV oxidation reaction rate by generating hydroxyl radicals and inhibiting the (e−/h+) pair recombination, but the excess of hydrogen peroxide decreases the oxidation rate acting as a radical or hole scavenger and reacting with TiO2 to form peroxo-compounds, contributing to the inhibition of the reaction. The use of the response surface methodology allowed to fit the optimal values of the parameters pH and catalyst concentration leading to the total solar degradation of orange II. The optimal pH range was 4.5–5.5 close to the zero point charge of TiO2 depending on surface charge of catalyst and dye ionization state. Dosage of catalyst higher than 1.1 g l−1 decreases the degradation efficiency due to a decrease of light penetration.