Degradation of Phenol By Photolysis Using N-doped TiO2 Catalyst

Safni Safni,Khoiriah Khoiriah,Mechy Rezita Wahyuni,Yulizar Yusuf

doi:10.20884/1.jm.2019.14.1.447

Abstract

Phenol (C6H5OH) is a common contaminant in wastewater. In certain concentrations, phenol can inhibit the activity of microorganisms and give adverse effects tohumanhealth, such as liver and kidney damage, perfect heart rate, and lower blood pressure. In this study, phenol was degraded with andwithoutN-doped TiO2under photolysis UV-light (10 Watts, λ = 365 nm) and visible-light (13 watt Philips, lux= 1400, λ = 465-640 nm)irradiation. The reductionof phenol concentrationwas measured by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer at a wavelength 200-400 nm. Some parameters such as catalyst dose, irradiation timesand type of light sources were studied. The XRD and DRS UV-Vis characterization confirmthat the nitrogen modified of titania catalyst potentially actives in visible-light. The N-doped TiO2is able to catalyze and improve the efficiency of phenol degradation in photocatalysissystem. Phenol with initialconcentration 8 mg/L was degraded by 33.89% and 30.51% without catalyst and increased to be 90.8% and 67.80%by additionof 15 mg N-doped TiO2catalyst under UV-light and visible-lightfor 210 minutes photolysis, respectively. From the results,irradiation using UV-light achieveshigherefficiency than visible-lightonphenol degradation.

Highlights

Phenol is a toxic hydroxybenzene which is sourced from chemical process industries such as herbicides and fungicides production, coal gasification, paper mill, polymeric resin production coking plants, and oil refining (Pattersom, 1985)
Phenol with initial concentration 8 mg/L was degraded by 30.51% and 33.89% without catalyst and increased to be 67.80% and 90.8% by addition of 15 mg N-doped TiO2 catalyst under visible-light and UV-light for 210 minutes photolysis, respectively
The materials used in this study are phenol (Merck), methanol HPLC grade (Merck), and double distilled from Dwipraga Chemical, Co (Indonesia)

Summary

Introduction

Phenol is a toxic hydroxybenzene which is sourced from chemical process industries such as herbicides and fungicides production, coal gasification, paper mill, polymeric resin production coking plants, and oil refining (Pattersom, 1985). Exposure to humans may occur by absorption through the skin, swallowing, cutaneous adsorption, and inhalation (Meena, Band, & Sharma, 2015; Wiley & Sons, 2003). Phenol can cause caustic burns on the area of skin, the corrosive effect, paralysis of the central nervous system with collapse and a severe drop in body temperature, cause damage inner organs, namely kidneys, liver, spleen, lungs, and heart (Wiley & Sons, 2003). Treating wastewater containing phenol has been investigated by conventional methods such as physical methods (activated carbon adsorption, filtration, and reverse osmosis), chemical methods (ion exchange, solvent, and electrochemical extraction) and biological methods (aerobic and anaerobic processes) (Abdelwahab, Amin, & El-Ashtoukhy, 2009). The three methods require several stages of processing, high costs, low efficiency and producing secondary waste (Safni, Putri, Wellia, & Septiani, 2017)

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Conclusion