Abstract— A photocatalyst prepared by binding ZnO particles using colloidal SiO2 and heating at 300oC for 9 hours was applied to degrade phenol and Methyl orange dye under solar irradiation. The influence of operating parameters such as catalyst loading and pH was studied. Furthermore the kinetics involved in the degradation of methyl orange and phenol were examined, and the degradation was found to follow first order kinetics.
Index Terms— Photodegradation, ZnO, methyl orange, phenol.
The authors are with the Centre for Water and Renewable Energy, Departmnet of Chemical Engineering, Vaal University of Technology, Private Bag X021, Andries Potgieter Boulevard, Vanderbijlpark, 1900, South Africa (e-mail: johna@vut.ac.za, moyomase@gmail.com, ochienga@vut.ac.za, GiftM@apsap.co.za).
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Cite: Seth Apollo, Stanley Moyo, Gift Mabuoa, and Ochieng Aoyi, " Solar Photodegradation of Methyl Orange and Phenol Using Silica Supported ZnO Catalyst," International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 203-206, 2014.