Activated carbon supported TiO2-photocatalysis doped with Fe ions for continuous treatment of dye wastewater in a dynamic reactor

Fe-doped TiO2 coated on activated carbon (Fe-TiO2/AC, FTA) composites were prepared by an improved sol-gel method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray di ractometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and BET surface area analysis. Obtained FTA composites were applied to the continuous treatment of dye wastewater in a dynamic reactor. The e ects of Fe ion content, catalyst content, UV-lamp power and flowrate of the continuous treatment of dye wastewater on degradation e ciency were analyzed to determine the optimum operating conditions of dye wastewater degradation. Continuous photocatalytic experiments provided interesting results that FTA had a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate compared with TiO2, Fe doped TiO2 (FT) and TiO2 coated on activated carbon (TA). In particular, when using the FTA catalyst with a Fe ion content of 0.33%, the kinetic content (k = 0.0376) of COD removal was more than the sum of both TA (0.0205) and 0.33% FT (0.0166). FTA showed a high photoactivity because of a synergistic e ect between Fe ions and AC on TiO2, which is higher than the individual e ects of AC or Fe ions on TiO2. Additionally, for the photocatalytic degradation of dye wastewater, the optimum Fe ion content, catalyst content, UV-lamp power and flowrate were 0.33%, 6 g/L, 60 W (two lamps) and 300 mL/hr, respectively. An investigation of catalyst reuse revealed that the 0.33% FTA showed almost no deactivation in photocatalytic degradation of naturally treated wastewater.