New Delhi, Jun 28 (KNN) The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur has introduced a technique for treating wastewater from the textile dyeing industry, addressing the long-standing issue of harmful azo dye discharge into the environment.

The novel method utilises environmentally friendly far ultraviolet (UV) light at 222 nm, offering a significant improvement over traditional mercury-based UV light treatments operating at 254 nm.

This innovation comes as a response to the textile industry's production of large volumes of wastewater containing persistent contaminants that have proven difficult to remove through conventional means.

Led by Dr. Ram Prakash, Professor in the Department of Physics, the research team at IIT Jodhpur developed an approach using a 222 nm Kr/Cl2 excimer UV light source.

Their method has demonstrated notable efficacy in decomposing Reactive Black 5 (RB5), a dye commonly found in textile wastewater.

The study, recently published in Nature Scientific Reports, explored both direct photolysis and an advanced oxidation process (AOP) utilising titanium dioxide (TiO2) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

Results indicate that the degradation rate of RB5 was approximately 27 times faster using the excimer-222 light and H2O2 AOP compared to conventional UV-C based methods.

Looking ahead, the IIT Jodhpur team plans to optimise the process for industrial applications and investigate the potential use of far UV-C light in other environmental remediation efforts and sustainable agricultural practices.

This development marks a significant step towards more effective wastewater treatment in the textile industry, potentially mitigating environmental pollution and promoting sustainable water reuse.

(KNN Bureau)