Metanil yellow

Metanil yellow is an acid dye. Studies using cross-linked chitosan beads suggest that Metanil yellow has an adsorption capacity of 3.56 mmol g⁻¹ at pH 4 and 30 °C. Alternate studies indicate that photocatalytic degradation of Metanil yellow can be carried out using TiO₂ as a photocatalyst under UV irradiation. In addition, ion chromatography of Metanil yellow displayed complete mineralization into CO₂, N₂, H₂O and inorganic ions such as NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻ and SO₄^2-. Furthermore, Metanil yellow is useful in spectrophotometric methods to determine the presence of trace amounts of nitrates and nitrites in solution. The method utilizes the fact that potassium bromate can catalyze the discoloring of Metanil yellow which can then be analyzed by spectrophotometry.