No Catalyst Dye Photodegradation in a Microemulsion Template

Abstract

This paper proposes an innovative solution for the efficient dye degradation from water treatment plant effluent, using microemulsion assisted photodegradation without the addition of a solid catalyst. Total photodegradation of dyes was achieved using for the first time a process based on combined photocatalytic effects of the water/oil interface processes and the potential activity of ethyl acetate as a UV initiator. The catalytic effect of nanostructured fluids based on the carboxylic oil phase is an absolute scientific premiere, and microemulsion assisted photodegradation processes open a new direction to pollutants photodegradation approach, exceeding the performances of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. The phenomenological modeling, with and without initiator, on both homogeneous and heterogeneous systems showed that the photodegradation of cationic and anionic dyes in a water/nonionic surfactant/ethyl acetate microemulsion is a radical process based on a chain reaction scheme. The compl...