Journal of Materials Science Research and Reviews

The photodegradation of two Azo reactive dyes (color index Yellow 145 and Blue 194) under sunlight using metal-organic framework MIL-53(Al) were evaluated in this research work. The synthesized material was characterized using FTIR and XRD techniques. The degradation process was assessed using varying amounts of 1.5 g, 1.0 g, and 0.5 g of the catalyst. The percentage degradation calculated showed that the process depended on the mass of the metal-organic framework used. The Pseudo-first-order degradation kinetics of color index Yellow 145 recorded R² values of 0.9765, 0.9697, and 0.9853 for 1.5 g, 1.0 g, and 0.5 g respectively. The Pseudo-second-order degradation process also recorded R² values as 0.9966, 0.9956, and 0.8114 for 1.5 g, 1.0 g, and 0.5 g of MIL-53(Al). The Pseudo-first-order degradation graph for color index Blue 194, has R² values of 0.9789, 0.9954, 0.9787 for the 1.5 g, 1.0 g, and 0.5 g of the catalyst used. The Pseudo-second-order degradation kinetics of color index Blue 194 using MIL-53(Al) also recorded R² values of 0.9998, 0.9937, and 0.6885 for the 1.5 g, 1.0 g, and 0.5 g mass catalysts. Mineralisation of the intermediates also revealed the formation of several products.