Experimental studies on water matrix and influence of textile effluents on photocatalytic degradation of organic wastewater using Fe–TiO₂ nanotubes: Towards commercial application

The application of photocatalysis for the effective removal of textile dyes is dependent on various parameters related with both water quality and different chemicals discharge during the dying process. Because the oxidation rates of the particular mixtures mainly influenced by the elements of the water matrix. These elements comprised of organic, inorganic salts, heavy metals, and ions. The impact of water matrices (Tap water, DI water, seawater, surface water, and ultra-pure water) on the Congo red decolorization, total organic carbon, and chemical oxygen demand removal efficacy has been assessed using Fe–TiO₂ nanotubes as a photocatalyst. The photocatalytic degradation rate decreased in unclean water due to the interferences of dissolved organics and minerals. However, all the environmental water matrices depict the significant decrease in turbidity and conductivity after treating with photocatalytic process. The photoactivity and capacity for decantation are the two crucial elements that have an impact on the “practical efficiency” of photocatalysts. Moreover, the textile wastewater contains a large quantity of dyes mixed with number of detrimental chemicals and other effluents discharged into the water which consequently pollute ecosystem and cause serious risks to human health. For environmental applications, we investigated individually the impact of various harmful chemicals commonly discharged from each step of textile wet processing which can have inhibiting or promoting effect on the azo dye photocatalytic degradation.