Semiconductor Catalyst: Investigation for the Degradation of BB9 Azo Dye by Sonophotocatalytic Process

Abstract The degradability of an azo dye, Basic Blue 9 (BB9), by heterogeneous sonocatalytic, photocatalytic, and sonophotocatalytic oxidation process was examined using simultaneous irradiation of UV‐C at 254 nm and power ultrasound at 20 kHz accompanied with a heterogeneous catalyst zinc oxide (ZnO) in the study. The effect of ZnO dose and initial dye concentration was investigated on the dye degradation in sonocatalytic, photocatalytic, and sonophotocatalytic processes at pH 5.5 (natural pH). The results obtained from the experimental studies were evaluated with the parameters of color removal, pseudo‐first‐order rate constant, and half‐life time. It was observed that the degradation of BB9 dye by the sonophotocatalytic process was higher compared to both sonocatalytic and photocatalytic degradation. as follows: 97.46, 48.64 and 56.88 %. The combination of sono and photocatalytic showed a remarkable synergistic effect in BB9 degradation. The kinetics of sonophotocatalytic oxidations, depending on the initial BB9 dye concentration, were found to follow the Langmuir‐Hinshelwood model. In addition, the effect of ZnO on the sonophotocatalytic oxidation process was higher compared to titanium dioxide and zero‐valent iron as follows: 97.47, 80.77 and 80.62 %.