http://www.e-journals.in Chemical Science Transactions DOI:10.7598/cst2014.841 2014, 3(3), 1001-1006 Cerium-Iron Oxide Catalyzed Photodegradation of Brilliant Blue G NEEMA PAPNAI and K. L. AMETA * Department of Chemistry, FASC, Mody University of Science and Technology, Lakshmangarh-332311, Rajasthan, India klameta77@hotmail.com Received 20 February 2014 / Accepted 26 February 2014 Abstract: Cerium-Iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation method and used as photocatalyst for the decolorization of Brilliant Blue G dye under visible light. Absorption studies were carried out at different pH and catalyst dosages at different light intensities to assess their effect on the rate of photocatalytic decolorization. The decolorization was dependent on pH, dye concentration, catalyst loading and light intensity. Keywords: Cerium-Iron oxide, Brilliant Blue G, Photocatalyst, Dye decolorization Introduction Dyes enhance our environment, bringing color into our lives by their wide use in textiles, paper, plastics, leather, food and cosmetic industry. At present more than 10,000 dyes have been effectively commercialized 1-3 . Synthetic dyes are a major group of dyes that have wide application in textile industry because of their ease of synthesis, versatility and cost effectiveness 4, 5 . However other than important class of synthetic organic compounds, they are also common industrial pollutants. They may enter in the environment during production or later during textile dyeing processes 6,7 . A major source of release of color into the environment is associated with the incomplete exhaustion of dyes onto textile fibre from an aqueous dyeing process. Therefore, the need to reduce the amount of residual dye in textile effluent has become a major concern in recent years 8,9 . Most of these dyes are chemically stable and are difficult to remove from wastewater as they are stable to light, heat and oxidizing agents 10,11 , causing environmental concern because of their color, biorecalcitrance, potential toxicity and carcinogenicity to animals and human beings 12 . Thus, there is an urgent need to develop effective methods to treat these toxic textile effluents. A number of technologies such as electro-chemical precipitation, bio-absorption/ bio-oxidation, ozonation, membrane separation processes, physico-chemical treatment, chemical oxidation are available for decolorization 5,13 . Photocatalytic decolorization is an alternative method to other conventional physicochemical and biological methods to treat dye effluent at low cost and less time 14 . RESEARCH ARTICLE