M Jalili - Department of Chemical Engineering, Semnan, Semnan, Iran
M Jahangiri - Department of Chemical Engineering, Semnan, Semnan, Iran
M.E Olya - Department of Environmental Research, Institute for Color Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

The synthesis of Ce co-doped Ag–ZnO (Ce–Ag–ZnO) has been successfully achieved by a microwaveassisted solution combustion method. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), fieldemission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images. The photocatalytic activity of Ce–Ag–ZnO was investigatedfor the degradation of Reactive Red 120 dye in aqueous solution under uv illumination in a semi-batch reactor. Maximumremoval of 97% was achieved for the 20 mg/l Reactive red 120 solution at pH=7 and catalyst dose= 0.1 g/l andtime =60 min. This study showed that silver and cerium have a significant role in improving ZnO photocatalytic activity.

textile; wastewater; Nanophotocatalyst; Degradation; RR120