Photodegradation applied to the treatment of phenol and derived substances catalyzed by TiO2/BiPO4 and biological toxicity analysis

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2017 Mar;24(7):6002-6012. doi: 10.1007/s11356-015-5952-y. Epub 2015 Dec 17.

Abstract

For this work, a phenol solution model was treated by an advanced oxidation process (AOPs), using the heterogeneous catalyst TiO2/BiPO4 and hydrogen peroxide combined with UVA for 240 min. An annular reactor containing a UVA lamp (80 W) was employed. A central composite rotacional design was developed employing a TiO2/BiPO4 concentration of 87 mg L-1 and a hydrogen peroxide concentration of 1800 mg L-1, being evaluated by the degradation percentage and phenol mineralization percentage as responses; 94.30 and 67.00 % were obtained for the phenol degradation and total organic carbon (TOC) conversion, respectively. The lumped kinetic model (LKM) was applied and a satisfactory profile of the residual fractions of the organic compounds present in the liquid phase as a time function with a determination coefficient (R 2 = 0.9945). The toxicity tests employing microbiological species indicated that the organisms tested for the evaluation of the toxic compounds present in the contaminated samples presented a practical low cost test, rapid execution, and high sensibility as an indicator of the presence of toxic substances in liquid effluents.

Keywords: AOPs; Annular reactor; Heterogeneous photocatalysis; Liquid effluents; Phenol.

MeSH terms

  • Bismuth* / chemistry
  • Bismuth* / toxicity
  • Phenol* / analysis
  • Phenol* / chemistry
  • Photolysis*
  • Titanium* / chemistry
  • Titanium* / toxicity
  • Water Pollutants* / analysis
  • Water Pollutants* / chemistry
  • Water Purification

Substances

  • Water Pollutants
  • titanium dioxide
  • Phenol
  • Titanium
  • Bismuth
  • bismuth phosphate