Effect of gamma-irradiation on aqueous solutions of Apollofix dyes

Textile dyeing wastewater is one of the major environmental problems in Turkey and is a common problem faced by many countries. These types of wastewaters are generally high in biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids, and strongly colored. Neither simple chemical nor biological treatment has proved to be adequate in removing the color and organic matter. It is well known that dyes are not readily biodegradable [3]. The toxicity and mass production of dyes lead to the necessity of developing new techniques. The major difficulty in treating textile wastewater containing dyes is the ineffectiveness of biological processes [13]. Physical processess, such as coagulation and adsorption, merely transfer the pollutants from wastewater to other media and cause secondary pollution. Ionizing radiation proved to be more effective for the treatment of this type of wastewaters than conventional methods. The effect of radiation can be intensified in aqueous solution in which the dye molecules are degraded effectively by primary products formed from the radiolysis of water. It was found that the decomposition of nondegradable organic compounds can be enhanced by addition of H2O2 or ozone when reactions are carried out under condition Effect of gamma-irradiation on aqueous solutions of Apollofix dyes Dilek Solpan, Murat Torun, Olgun Güven