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 diffractometry, 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 effects of Fe ion content, catalyst content, UV-lamp power and flowrate of the continuous treatment of dye wastewater on degradation efficiency 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 effect between Fe ions and AC on TiO2, which is higher than the individual effects 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.