Photodegradation of Rhodamine B using Aqueous Free-Base Porphyrin and Metalloporphyrins of Divalent Metal Ions

Abstract

The present study is focused on the photodegradation of rhodamine B using aqueous free-base photocatalysts in presence of solar radiation. All catalysts such as free-base tetrasodium meso-tetra(p-sulphonatophenyl)porphyrin (TPPS₄) or abbreviated as TPS and substituting M = Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Ag into the moiety of TPS to get metalloporphyrins, were synthesized. Further, they were characterized by UV-visible, IR and ¹H MMR spectroscopic techniques. The photodegradation of rhodamine B of concentration 10^-5 M was carried out with 5 mg of a photocatalyst of free-base and other metalloporphyrins. It was observed that these synthesized photocatalysts have shown the photodegradation efficiency to the extent of 100% within time period of 5 to 40 min. The process of degradation was verified with HPLC and ion-chromatography.