Buletinul Institutului Politehnic din Iași Secția Chimie și Inginerie Chimică ISSN: 2537-2947
ISSN-L: 0254-7104
2024, Volume 70(74), Issue 1 (January), pp. 35 - 46
Visible-Light Photocatalytic Degradation of Tartrazine Using ZnO
Nanoparticles: Preliminary Phytotoxicity Investigations on Treated Solutions
MARIA PAIU, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași, “Cristofor
Simionescu” Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection,
Iași, Romania LIDIA FAVIER, Univ Rennes, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de
Chimie de Rennes, CNRS, ISCR – UMR6226, Rennes, France DOINA LUTIC,
“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University from Iași, Faculty of Chemistry, Iași,
Romania RALUCA-MARIA HLIHOR, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” Iași University of
Life Sciences, Faculty of Horticulture, Department of Horticultural
Technologies, Iași, Romania MARIA GAVRILESCU, “Gheorghe Asachi”
Technical University of Iași, “Cristofor Simionescu” Faculty of Chemical
Engineering and Environmental Protection, Iași, Romania, Academy of Romanian
Scientists, Bucharest, Romania,
mgav@tuiasi.ro
Abstract Effluents containing synthetic dyes are often discharged
untreated, contributing to widespread contamination and disrupting aquatic
ecosystems. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), particularly
photocatalysis, offer promising alternative solutions to address this issue.
This study investigates the photocatalytic degradation of tartrazine (TZ)
using elaborated zinc oxide. The toxicity of the transformation products
generated during this process was also examined. Preliminary phytotoxicity
tests using Lepidium sativum L. seeds revealed significant growth of
vegetative organs in untreated solutions. Similar values to the control
sample were observed in photocatalytically treated solutions, possibly due
to the conversion of toxic intermediates into less harmful by-products. The
successful elimination of TZ under visible-light irradiation conditions
confirms the potential of ZnO-based photocatalysis as a viable solution for
mitigating water pollution caused by food dye contaminants. Keywords:
degradation, food dyes, Lepidium sativum, photocatalysis, phytotoxicity.