Abstract
Anatase nanoparticles in suspension have demonstrated high photoactivity that can be exploited for pollutant removal in water phases. The main drawback of this system is the difficulty of recovering (and eventually reusing) the nanoparticles after their use, and the possible interference of inorganic salts (e.g., sulfates) that can reduce the performance of the photocatalyst. The present work describes the development of a cordierite-honeycomb-supported TiO2 film to eliminate the problems of catalyst recovery. The catalyst was then tested against phenol in the presence of increasing concentrations of sulfates in a specially developed recirculating modular photoreactor, able to accommodate the supported catalyst and scalable for application at industrial level. The effect of SO42− was evaluated at different concentrations, showing a slight deactivation only at very high sulfate concentration (≥3 g L−1). Lastly, in the framework of the EU project Project Ô, the catalyst was tested in the treatment of real wastewater from a textile company containing a relevant concentration of sulfates, highlighting the stability of the photocatalyst.
Highlights
Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) is a wide-band-gap semiconductor largely employed in several multisectorial applications due to its interesting functional properties coupled with a high chemical and physical stability, together with low production cost and negligible toxicity [1,2,3]
This work demonstrated the possibility of using cordierite honeycomb as a support for TiO2 film, eliminating the problems of suspended catalyst recovery
[SO4 2− ] lower than 3 g L−1, likely due to generation of SO4 2− which can increase the oxidation of organic substrate
Summary
Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) is a wide-band-gap semiconductor largely employed in several multisectorial applications due to its interesting functional properties coupled with a high chemical and physical stability, together with low production cost and negligible toxicity [1,2,3]. In aqueous phase, holes can oxidize water molecules generating OH radicals or directly oxidize adsorbed substrates [8]. This feature has been extensively studied in the last decades for environmental remediation, i.e., the degradation/mineralization of organic pollutants present in gas or liquid phases [9]. The suspension implies the necessity of a separation stage after the treatment in order to recover the catalyst and eventually re-use it For this reason, the possibility of immobilizing the photocatalyst on a support has been widely explored in the literature [9,12,13,14,15].
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