Equilibrium and kinetic aspects in photoactivity of Polypropilene coated Nano-TiO2

Water pollution has always been a major problem to the environment; the discharge of pollutants into water bodies is illegally and it is a source of organic compounds in wastewater . These pollutants are resistant to the biological and phisical treatments and in particular, dyes are the first pollutant species identified due to their obvious color and they are undesirable in water, even in very small amounts. The treatment of these dyes effluents is highly desired for the preservation of the environment. Heterogeneous photocatalysis has attracted considerable attention and the most used photocatalyst is TiO2 which show advantages such as chemical and biological resistance, low price, expensive recycling and recovery of the photocatalyst [2]. The aim of present work is the study and the use of two commercial types of TiO2 such as Anatase and Degussa P-25 supported on Polypropylene (PP) strips using Visible light in the photodegradation of two reference dyes, Methylorange and Alizarin Red S, in acid, basic and neutral conditions. The optimization of TiO2 pastes preparation using two commercial TiO2 has been performed and a low-cost dip-coating procedure was developed. Scan Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy were used in order to obtain morphological information of TiO2 on support material. Equilibrium and kinetic aspects in the adsorption and photodegradation of Methylorange and Alizarin Red S are described using Polypropylene-TiO2 films in the Visible/TiO2/air reactor showing efficient dyes degradation. [1] C. Guillard, H. Lachheb, A. Houas, M. Ksibi, E. Elaloui, J. Herrmann, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, 158 (2003) 27–36. [2] D. S. Bhatkhande, V. G. Pangarkar and A. ACM Beenackers, Journal of chemical technology and biotechnology, 77 (2001) 102.