Performance of resin immobilized photocatalyst-TiO₂ in treating wastewater containing hexavalent chromium

Electroplating effluents are a significant source of toxic heavy metals, with hexavalent chromium being of particular concern due to its severe health hazards.This research investigates the efficiency of a Resin-Immobilized Photocatalyst (RIP-TiO₂) in removing Cr⁶⁺ from wastewater using a fixed-bed photocatalytic reactor.Experiments were carried out with both actual electroplating wastewater and synthetic wastewater, employing three RIP-TiO₂ dosages (30, 40, and 50 g) and sampling intervals of 0, 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 120, and 180 minutes.The reactor was operated with three column beds under UV-C irradiation (15 W).The study used two different types of media, electroplating wastewater (real wastewater) and synthetic wastewater (Cr 6+ solution).The comparison initial Cr 6+ concentrations measured were 1004.7 mg/L for real wastewater and 84.97 mg/L for synthetic wastewater.After 180 minutes of treatment with 50 g of RIP-TiO₂, removal efficiencies reached 70.67% for real wastewater and 37.64% for synthetic wastewater respectively.Datas were statistically evaluated using One-Way ANOVA followed by Tukey's test.The findings demonstrate that resin-supported TiO₂ effectively reduces Cr⁶⁺ levels, with optimal performance obtained under acidic pH and prolonged contact time.