INFLUENCE OF THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF ORGANIC POLLUTANTS ON PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF TiO 2 NANOPARTICLES: KINETIC ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY PER ORDER (E EO )

Abstract

Photocatalytic degradation of different organic pollutants such as C.I. Acid Red 27(AR27), Methyl Orange (MO), Malachite Green (MG) and 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) were investigated under UV light irradiation using synthesized TiO 2 nanoparticles by sol-gel method. It was found that the photocatalytic degradation rate depends on pollutants structure. The results indicate that from these pollutants MG can be removed faster than other pollutants. Also, 4-NP with a more stable structure than other pollutants has lowest removal rate in the presence of TiO 2 nanoparticles under UV light irradiation. The results prove that removal rate of pollutants with different structures follows pseudo-first order kinetics. The figures-of-merit based on electric energy consumption (electrical energy per order (E EO )) were evaluated in the photocatalytic degradation of four organic pollutants. The results indicate that E EO values depend on the basic structure of the pollutants