Optimization of photocatalytic degradation of dye wastewater by CuFe2O4/AgBr composite using response surface methodology

In this paper, a simple response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) was applied to determine the optimum processing parameters of photocatalytic degradation of acid red 88 (AR88) by CuFe2O4/AgBr composites. The effect of CuFe2O4 loading, initial concentration of pollutant, and photocatalyst concentration on the yield of AR88 degradation rate was investigated. Based on the statistical experimental design, the maximum degradation rate of 94.7% was achieved under optimal conditions: the 34.69% of CuFe2O4 loading, 16.34 mg L-1 of intial concentration of AR88, 1.51 g L-1 of photocatalyst concentration. The kinetics exploration indicated that the degradation process fitted pseudo-first order kinetic model. What't more, the trapping experiment of active species demonstrated that center dot O-2(-) and center dot OH were the dominant species.