Utilization of AC/zirconium oxide (ZrO2) for the removal of 4-octylphenol (4-OP) from aqueous solution has been studied under simulated visible-light as a cost effective technique. To draw complete images for the prepared materials, a series of characterization methods was performed. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) data has proved that AC has high surface area and total pore volumes that are decreased after incorporation of ZrO2. Morphologically, TEM showed massive quantity of ZrO2 spherical shape nanoparticles loaded with carbon and EDX showed the uniform distribution of all the prepared materials. The photocatalytic performance has been traced via adopting a matrix effect analysis to correlate the photodegradation of 4-OP in the presence of visible light as a time function, pH, photocatalyst dose and initial concentration of 4-OP. The positive impact of AC content in AC/ZrO2 composite on the adsorption of 4-OP was strikingly observed with expanding the AC content in AC/ZrO2 composite up to 33% (wt/wt). Almost 97% of the 4-OP was removed within 180 min under simulated visible light. The optimum reaction conditions for 95% removal of 4-OP were 120 min, 1 g L-1 catalyst dose at pH 8. The photocatalytic degradation of the 4-OP was well fitted with pseudo first-order L-H kinetic model.
Keywords: 4-octylphenol; Endocrine disrupting hormones; activated carbon; photodegradation; zirconium oxide.