Photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B dye with TiO2 immobilized on SiC foam using full factorial design

Abstract Textile effluents treatment is one of the important environmental challenges nowadays. Photocatalysis has proven its effectiveness for the removal of recalcitrant compounds, and it is considered as a green technology for the treatment of effluents. However, good photocatalytic yield is strongly related to the operating parameters. In this study, a supported TiO2 on a β-SiC foam was tested for the removal of Rhodamine B (RhB). The photocatalytic discoloration of RhB synthetic solution in our condition was about 90%. The effects of each parameter were assessed through a full factorial design. Sixteen tests were carried out and the response was RhB removal. The most influent parameters were TiO2/β-SiC foam quantity, the concentration of RhB, the volume of H2O2 and pH. Their contributions on RhB removal were, respectively, 53.01, 30.49, 2.7, and 2.48% according to Pareto diagram. Analysis of the coefficients shows that initial concentration of RhB and volume of H2O2 had a negative effect on the response. However, the quantity of TiO2/β-SiC foam and pH had a positive effect on the response. The influence of the flow rate on the process was assessed. The results showed a slight increase in RhB removal. Furthermore, the aging test of TiO2/β-SiC foam on the photocatalytic efficiency was carried out after ten successive photocatalysis tests. Only 6.7% loss of yield was observed. These results are very encouraging for an application at the industrial scale.