engleski

Possibilities of environmental organic pollutants’ degradation by solar photocatalysis

In the frame of on-going EU regulations and amendments to the Water Framework Directive, a full consideration is given to the monitoring and removing of the micropollutants from the aquatic environment. Whereas traditional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not sufficient in removal of micropollutants, an emerging best available technique - solar photocatalysis is considered as an environmentally and economically feasible upgrading approach. Therefore, a semi- pilot scale flat-plate cascade reactor (FPCR) was developed to study the applicability of photocatalytic degradation of common organic pollutants over titanium dioxide (TiO2) and nanocomposite of titanium dioxide and carbon nanotubes (TiO2/CNT) thin-films supported on glass fibers. The FPCR represents the more realistic outdoor system, that can be easily scaled-up and installed at the outlet of WWTPs or in the critical part of a recipient. In this work, photocatalytic degradation of 1H-benzotriazole, imidacloprid, carbamazepine, 17-estradiol and ibuprofen under simulated sunlight with appropriate UVB and UVA irradiation levels were presented. The experimental results were obtained by using LC/Q-TOF/MS technique. To estimate the pollutant degradation independent on the reactor size and capacity, predictive comprehensive model was applied. The “intrinsic” photocatalytic reaction constants for targeted pollutants, independent of irradiance levels, reactor geometry and hydrodynamics were presented.

solar photocatalysis, micropollutants, flat-plate cascade reactor, titanium dioxide, carbon nanotubes

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