Abstract:
In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the chlorine process and the UV/chlorine process in degrading persistent synthetic dyes. The results indicate that the UV/chlorine process is highly effective in removing these dyes, paving the way for promising applications in treating water contaminated by these substances. Our research specifically focused on the degradation of toluidine blue using the UV/chlorine process at two wavelengths (254 nm, 365 nm). We found that UV radiation significantly increases the degradation rate of toluidine blue in this system. After several experiments, we identified the following operating parameters: pH 5, [TB]₀ = 10 μM, [chlorine]₀ = 500 μM. Additionally, we observed that certain inorganic anions, such as NaNO₃, Na₂SO₄, Na₂SO₃, NaNO₂, KBr, NaCl, and NaHCO₃, impact the degradation of toluidine blue, particularly KBr and NaCl, which have significant effects. We also evaluated the effect of specific inhibitors (tert-butanol, 2-propanol, benzoic acid) and surfactants (Tween 20, Tween 80, Tx-100, SDS) on the degradation process. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that the UV/chlorine system is more effective than chlorine alone in degrading toluidine blue, offering promising prospects for treating contaminated water.
