FOTODEGRADAÇÃO DO CORANTE AZUL DE METILENO POR FOTOCATÁLISE HETEROGÊNEA

Abstract

Due to the environmental need for a treatment capable of degrading and mineralizing non-biodegradable organic fillers, aiming at an adequate disposal of industrial waste, studies were carried out using heterogeneous photocatalysis as a principle. In experimental practice, the TiO2 catalyst was used as chemical input in order to obtain significant results in the degradation of effluents. A catalytic photoreactor composed of stirring mechanism, UV irradiation and container to develop the solution was developed. In the study of the factors that can influence the treatment process, the catalyst efficiency was studied in relation to the pH variations of the treated methylene blue solutions. The tests were performed in duplicate collecting every 2 min a sample of solution. When evaluating the performance against lamp irradiation without catalyst use the tests lasted 1h and 30 min and a sample was taken from the solution every 10 min. The procedures performed allow the determination of the discoloration of the laboratory prepared methylene blue solutions at an initial concentration of 5.5 mg/L, by analyzing the absorbance data of the sample, the degradation of 98% of the sample was determined using the TiO2 catalyst activated by the germicidal lamp irradiation showing the effectiveness of the treatment in the degradation of the methylene blue dye.