Photodegradation of Malachite Green Molecules Using CuO Photocatalyst

Abstract

In this work the toxic Malachite green was degraded using photodegradation technique, in which a LED emitting at 365 nm and power 1200mW was used as UV source. It stimulate the copper oxide (CuO) to interact with Malachite green molecules. Different amounts of photocatalyst (CuO) were added to Malachite green and the mixture was irradiatiated by the UV source, with different exposure times. The abosrption spectra of Malachite grren with different amounts of CuO were recorded before and after irradiation. Then the intensity of the absorption peak in either case was compared to check wether the degradation of the Malachite green occur or not. The results showed that, the photodegradation process was increased with increasing the amount of semicondutor (CuO) and with the irradiation time, as well, where it was found that the lower percentage of Malachite green degradation occurs when 300 mg of CuO was added and irradiated for 10 min, while a complet removal was aheived when 1000 mg of CuO was added and irradiated for 40 min. This study concluded that the increment of the photocatalyst amount and the irradiation time increase the photodegradation of toxic Malachite green exponentially.