Abstract
The photocatalytic performance of a commercial TiO2 doped by incipient wet impregnation with palladium (sample named TiO2-Pd), was evaluated in the heterogeneous degradation process using as test molecule the clofibric acid (CA), a metabolism product of a drug used as blood lipid regulator. The catalyst was characterised by XRD, SEM and UV-VIS reflectance spectroscopy. The photocatalytic potential of this new catalyst was evaluated at laboratory scale under UV-A irradiation conditions. The influence of a few key parameters was studied in order to optimize the process conditions. The results shown that TiO2-Pd can completely remove the target pollutant under the optimal conditions (0.2 g/L catalyst, 5 mg/L CA, 6.2 mW/cm2 irradiation flux). Moreover, the CA mineralization was evaluated by TOC and a 65% mineralization yield was obtained, confirming the good photocatalytic activity of TiO2-Pd.
Highlights
Over the last years, there is an increasing interest for the removal of persistent organic compounds found in very low amounts in the wastewaters, due to their dangerous potential to modify the normal equilibrium of the water biota
In order to monitor the mineralization of clofibric acid (CA), the total organic carbon was traced during the photocatalytic tests, using a Shimadzu TOC-5000-A device
A photocatalytic process was used for the advanced removal of clofibric acid (CA) from diluted solutions, using the commercial TiO2 from Acros, doped with Pd by incipient wet impregnation
Summary
There is an increasing interest for the removal of persistent organic compounds found in very low amounts in the wastewaters, due to their dangerous potential to modify the normal equilibrium of the water biota. CA appears in the human body as a metabolite of clofibrate, a pharmaceutical compound used as cholesterol lowering agent, and arrives after excretion in the wastewaters This molecule attracted an increased attention of the scientific community due to its low biodegradability and long persistency in the environment [3]. AOPs include ozonation [5], heterogeneous photocatalysis [6], Fenton and photo-Fenton reactions [7], sonolysis [8], electrochemical oxidation [9] All these technologies are based on the generation of strong oxidants species, such as the free HO radicals, which are aggressive enough to react with the organic compounds, even if present in low concentrations in wastewater, and mineralize them into harmless molecules [10]. The influence of some operating parameters on the reaction performance was studied, in order to define an optimal set of conditions
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