ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Kinetics of tartrazine photodegradation by UV/H₂O₂ in aqueous solution

Petruta Oancea and Viorica Meltzer

Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Bucharest, Bd. Regina Elisabeta, 4-12, Bucharest, 030018, Romania

E-mail: viomel@gw-chimie.math.unibuc.ro

Abstract: In the present work, kinetics of tartrazine decay by UV irradiation and H₂O₂ photolysis, and the removal of total organic carbon (TOC) under specific experimental conditions was explored. Irradiation experiments were carried out using a photoreactor of original design with a low-pressure Hg vapour lamp. The photodegradation rate of tartrazine was optimised with respect to the H₂O₂ concentration and temperature for the constant dye concentration of 1.035 × 10⁻⁵ M. Tartrazine degradation and the removal of TOC followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics. The much higher k _obs value for tartrazine degradation (7.91 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹) as compared with the TOC removal (2.3 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹) confirmed the presence of reaction intermediates in the solution.

Keywords: tartrazine – dyes – photodegradation – advanced oxidation process (AOP) – water treatment

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-013-0426-5

Chemical Papers 68 (1) 105–111 (2014)