Use of Zinc Ferrite for Photocatalytic Treatment of Water Contaminated with Organic Dye

The present work aims to test the use of zinc ferrite as a photocatalytic agent for the discoloration of water contaminated by organic dyes. The zinc ferrite used is an industrial waste that comes from an industrial plant destined for the extraction of zinc. The organic dye studied was the Blue Patent V. The photocatalytic tests were prepared using aqueous solutions contaminated by the organic dye to which predetermined quantities of zinc ferrite were added and were subsequently exposed to sunlight for programmed times. Furthermore, systems in the presence of hydrogen peroxide have also been studied. After the exposure time, the systems were filtered and the concentrations of the solutions were measured with UV spectrophotometry. The ferrite after the photocatalytic tests was characterized by thermal analysis (DSC). The data obtained were analyzed according to the experimental parameters used. Zinc ferrite showed photodegradative abilities respect to the analyzed dye.