Preparation and Characterization of New Heterogeneous Sonocatalysts

Sonocatalytic process was adopted to enhance the decolorization and mineralization of wastewater containing amaranth dye. Zeolite Y was used as the support material and modified using three different active metals i.e. Ti, La and Fe.The modification of the encapsulated TiO2 by Fe metal enhanced the decolorization efficiency of amaranth dye more efficiently than its modification with La metal. The maximum decolorization efficiency was about 97 % with maximum COD removal of 57 % after 120 min of reaction. The catalytic reaction was assisted by an ultrasonic irradiation source at 50 W for the output power and the frequency was 40 kHz. Different operational parameters were investigated for the best of higher catalytic activity.The developed sonocatalysts were successfully characterized using different characterization techniques.The Fe ions loaded onto encapsulated titanium caused a significant reduction in band gap energy from 3.55 eV for bare TiO2 to 2.8 for Fe loaded on encapsulated (0.8%Fe/Ti-NaY). The synthesized sonocatalyst possessed high surface areas and demonstrated high reusability potential for many consecutive cycles with acceptable amount of Fe leaching.