Role of Ferric Tungstate as Photocatalyst for Removal of Xylenol Orange

摘要

In the present work, semiconducting ferric tungstate powder has been used as a photocatalyst for the degradation of xylenol orange. The photocatalyst has been prepared by precipitation method. The degradation process of the dye was monitored spectrophotometrically. Various factors, which affect the rate of reaction including pH, dye concentration, amount of semiconductor, light intensity, etc. has been studied. The observations revealed that the degradation of xylenol orange followed pseudo-first order kinetics. A tentative mechanism for photocatalytic degradation of xylenol orange has also been proposed where the species superoxide anion radical (O2 −•) was found responsible for the degradation of the dye