Santaballa, J. ArturoCanle, MoisésZaaboul, FatimaHaoufazane, ChaimaaHammouti, BelkheirAzzaoui, KhalilJodeh, ShehdehHadjadj, AomarEl Hourch, Abderrahim2024-11-072024-11-072024Zaaboul, F.; Canle, M.; Haoufazane, C.; Santaballa, J.A.; Hammouti, B.; Azzaoui, K.; Jodeh, S.; Hadjadj, A.; El Hourch, A. Sunlight-Driven Photodegradation of RB49 Dye Using TiO2-P25 and TiO2-UV100: Performance Comparison. Coatings 2024, 14, 1270. https://doi.org/10.3390/ coatings14101270http://hdl.handle.net/2183/39998[Abstract] By combining measurements of photocatalysis under solar irradiation with measurements of total organic carbon, we have compared the performance of two TiO2-based photocatalysts in the photodegradation of the dye Reactive Blue 49 (RB49). TiO2-P25 and TiO2-UV100 commercial photocatalysts were tested within a concentration ranging from 0.5 to 4 g/L. The dye solution concentration was varied from 10 to 50 mg/L and its pH was increased from 3 to 9. Extensive characterization of the photocatalysts was performed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. TiO2-UV100 proved to be more active in adsorbing RB49 dye than TiO2-P25. At low dye concentrations, the adsorption equilibrium is reached in 15 min. This time increases to 1 h at higher concentrations. The photocatalytic degradation of aqueous RB49 under sunlight was monitored by UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The apparent rate constant of dye photodegradation with TiO2-UV100 is twice that of TiO2-P25. The total organic carbon (TOC) analysis showed a removal of around 98% with TiO2-UV100 and only 85% with TiO2-P25 after 3 h of solar irradiation. Over five photocatalytic cycles of 3 h, TiO2-UV100 maintained a more stable and higher efficient photocatalytic performance. All our results converge toward a better photocatalytic performance of TiO2-UV100 for the photodegradation of RB49 dye and indicate that the most decisive factor is its greater capacity to adsorb the pollutant.engCreative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license 4.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/TiO2RB49PhotodegradationSolar photocatalysisAdsorptionWater treatmentjournal articleopen access10.3390/coatings14101270