TiO2-Fly Ash Composites for Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Loading from Real Municipal Wastewater
Mirela Alina Constantin, Ioana Alexandra Ionescu, Florenta Daniela Constantinov, Cristina Mihaela Nicolescu, Marius Bumbac, Anca Irina Gheboianu, Lucian Alexandru ConstantinFly ash-TiO2 composites were obtained by sol–gel, and their catalytic performance was evaluated on removal of organic loading and expressed as Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) from real wastewater samples. SEM, X-ray fluorescence, XRD, IR, Raman analysis and determination of PZC characterized the catalysts. The photocatalytic tests were carried out in a laboratory reactor under UV-VIS irradiation and influence of fly ash (FA) content, and irradiation time was investigated. The catalysts with FA content of 10%, 20% and 30% showed COD removal efficiencies higher than 50% after 5 h of irradiation. The COD degradation followed a pseudo-first order kinetic model. Obtained results proved that FA-TiO2 composites could represent a suitable alternative for removal of organic loading from real wastewater.