Recycling of TiO2-containing waste and utilization by photocatalytic degradation of a reactive dye solution

Recently, the utilization of wastes, recovery of high value-added products from waste, and their use as raw materials in other industries with the logic of industrial symbiosis has become an important issue. In this study, removal efficiency of Reactive Orange 16 (RO16) dye from aqueous solution was studied using TiO2 catalyst recycled from an industrial waste effluent. The recycling of TiO2 waste from a paints manufacturing industry was carried out by sintering the TiO2-containing waste. The catalyst usability of TiO2-containing powder was then investigated in the removal of RO16 dye by photocatalytic oxidation process. In photocatalytic oxidation studies, TiO2/UV and TiO2/UV/H2O2 processes were investigated, where the effect of annealing temperature, the effect of H2O2 concentration, and the adsorption and photocatalytic effects on RO16 dye removal were studied. The results showed that 100% RO16 removal was obtained for the 10 mg/L initial RO16 concentration using the TiO2 (1 g/L)/UV process. At high initial RO16 concentration (50 mg/L), 100% RO16 removal was achieved by adding 10 mM H2O2.