Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Jason Parsons

Second Advisor

Erik Plata

Third Advisor

Arnulfo Mar

Abstract

Indigo dye (IUPAC 2-(3-hydroxy-1H-indol-2-yl)indol-3-one) is one of the most used dyes in the textile industry worldwide with more than 40,000 tons produced each year. It can elicit adverse physiological responses in humans including vomiting, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal conditions, and it is toxic in large amounts. There is also evidence to suggest that indigo is a teratogen and genotoxic in aquatic life. Environmentally, the enormous amount of indigo used in the textile industry has caused rivers and waterways to run blue as well as severely impacting aquatic and plant ecosystems. The chemicals used in its synthesis are also extremely toxic and hazardous to both humans and the environment. The current investigation is centered on the effectiveness of electrocatalysis on the removal of indigo from aqueous solution. The study used an ink-based graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) – doped copper mesh electrode with a for the degradation of indigo dye in solution.

The study focused on determining the optimal pH of the solution under a 200 mA constant current at a starting concentration of 80 ppm of indigo. The optimal pH was determined to be 5. Indigo concentrations were determined using UV-vis spectral analysis of the solution at each pH after one hour under 200 mA current. Further study on kinetics of dye eliminations, applied current density, and material synthesis revealed more information to further refine the reaction parameters for this process.

Comments

Copyright 2025 Rolando R Barron Jr. https://proquest.com/docview/3240632614

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