Treatment of textile wastewater at industrial-scale has met with limited success due to complex structural properties of dyes. The present work focuses on the complete removal of Levafix Orange CA (LO), a reactive textile dye through zinc oxide (ZnO) photocatalysis. The photocatalyst was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy. The progress of dye degradation was followed by chemical oxygen demand (COD) and UV-Visible absorption measurements. The rate of degradation was found to be higher under UV-light than under sunlight. The optimum operating parameters for UV assisted degradation were found be 3.0 g/L of ZnO for 100 ppm LO and higher degradation rates were observed at alkaline pH owing to enhanced production of hydroxyl radicals. Nearly 100% decolourization and ~ 92 % COD removal was achieved under optimum experimental conditions after 3 hours of irradiation. Complete degradation leading to mineralization of LO was observed after 8 hrs which suggests that the method may be successfully employed for the UV assisted photocatalytic degradation of Levafix CA dyes in textile wastewater.
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