Photocatalytic Degradation of Humic Acids with Titanium Dioxide Embedded into Polyethylene Pellets to Enhance the Postrecovery of Catalyst

Heterogeneous photocatalysis with titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been shown to be a sustainable treatment technology to remove natural organic matter (NOM). This is of interest to the drinking water treatment industry. However, heterogeneous photocatalysis with TiO2 continues to suffer from several limitations such as the postrecovery of TiO2 particles, which impede its use in the drinking water treatment industry. In this study, the repeated use of the same photoactive TiO2 embedded into polyethylene pellets (PE-TiO2) made by the controlled-temperature embedding method was studied in the photocatalytic degradation of commercial humic acid (HA) to solve the postrecovery of TiO2 in slurry. Photocatalytic degradation percentage of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal with PE-TiO2 was stable after the second use of the same PE-TiO2 pellets, which was evaluated during five tests. PE-TiO2 removed 64.6% of the initial DOC during 270 min of photocatalytic degradation, and TiO2 in slurry removed 64.5% of the initial DOC during 180 min of photocatalytic degradation. Moreover, PE-TiO2 led to a considerable reduction in specific ultraviolet absorbances (SUVA = UV/DOC): SUVA254, SUVA280, SUVA365, and SCOA436 (specific color absorbance) and trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP). Therefore, PE-TiO2 is a promising material to remove NOM and solve the problem of postrecovery of TiO2 particles after water treatment.

• Autores: Valencia Hurtado, Sergio Humberto; Restrepo Vasquez, Gloría María; Marín Sepúlveda, Juan Miguel
• Tipo de recurso: Article of investigation
• Fecha de publicación: 2017
• Institución: Tecnológico de Antioquia
• Repositorio: Repositorio Tdea
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:dspace.tdea.edu.co:tdea/3015
• Acceso en línea: https://dspace.tdea.edu.co/handle/tdea/3015
• Palabra clave: Humic acids; Acide humique; Ácido húmico; Dióxido de titanio; Titanium dioxide; Dioxyde de titane; Trihalometanos; Trihalomethanes; Trialometanos; Trihalogénométhanes; Postrecovery of TiO2; Posrecuperación de TiO2; TiO2 embedded; TiO2 incrustado
• Rights: closedAccess
• License: http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_14cb