Radiation-Induced Degradation of PVA 26 by UV Radiation in the Presence of Zno Nanocatalyst

Abstract

This research work evaluates the degradation of PVA-26 by UV radiation dose between different time intervals from 15-60 minutes under a UV chamber with the intensity of 144W by nanocatalyst ZnO, in the presence of H2O2. We investigated the effect of radiation, acidic medium, sample initial and final concentration, H2O2 concentration, and catalyst dose on the degradation process under these conditions. Different solutions of PVA-26, i.e., 50 ppm, 100 ppm, 150 ppm, and 200 ppm irradiated by the UV lamp at a wavelength of 290 nm. The efficiency of degradation of PVA-26 was checked using different parameters such as (UV/H2O2, UV/ H2O2 + ZnO, UV/ H2O2 + ZnO acidic medium, UV/ZnO H2O2/ZnO, and H2O2/ZnO + acidic medium). The experimental results showed that the rate of degradation increased by increasing radiation time, the concentration of H2O2, and the catalyst. The maximum degradation was observed up to 82 % under optimum conditions (60 minutes radiation time, 0.3 ml H2O2, and 0.1 g/L ZnO in HNO3) after that degradation rate decreased dramatically due to coagulation of HOo radicals. The characterization of the maximum degraded product was analyzed and examined by UV-spectrophotometer and FTIR.