Titania nano-coated quartz wool for the photocatalytic mineralisation of emerging organic contaminants

Abstract

Many emerging contaminants pass through the conventional wastewater treatment plants contaminating surface and drinking water. The implementation of advanced oxidation processes in the existing plants for emerging contaminant remediation is one of the challenges for the enhancement of water quality in the industrialized countries. This paper reports on the production of a TiO₂ nano-layer on quartz wool in a relevant amount, its characterization by XRD and scanning electron microscopy, and its use as a photocatalyst under ultraviolet (UV) radiation for the simultaneous mineralisation of five emerging organic contaminants (Benzophenone-3, Benzophenone-4, Carbamazepine, Diclofenac, and Triton X-100) dissolved in deionized and tap water (TW). This treatment was compared with the direct UV photolysis and with the photocatalytic degradation on commercial TiO₂ micropearls. The disappearance of every pollutant was followed by high performance liquid chromatograph and the mineralisation was assessed by the determination of total organic carbon. After 4 hours of treatment with the TiO₂ nano-coated quartz wool, the mineralisation exceeds the 90% in deionized water and is about 70% in TW. This catalyst was reused for 7 cycles without significant efficiency loss.