Photocatalytic degradation of Rose Bengal using semiconducting zinc sulphide as the photocatalyst

Abstract

Various semiconductors have been used as photocatalysts for the removal of different dyes from their aqueous solutions. Zinc sulphide semiconductor was used in the present investigation as a photocatalyst for the removal of Rose Bengal dye. Effect of different parameters that affect the rate of reaction, such as pH, concentration of dye, amount of semiconductor and light intensity were studied. A mechanism is proposed in which hydroxyl radicals are shown as the active oxidizing species.