Study of the Response Surface in the Photocatalytic Degradation of Acetaminophen Using TiO2

An effective way to obtain the optimal parameters of a process or experiment is the response surface method. Using the Box-Behnken design further decreases the number of experiments needed to obtain sufficient data to obtain a reliable equation. From the equation, it is possible to predict the behavior of the response with respect to the combination of variables involved. In this study we evaluated the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized TiO2 for the degradation of acetaminophen, a frequently used and uncontrolled drug that has been detected with increasing frequency in wastewater effluents. The variables used for this study were pH, contaminant concentration (acetaminophen) and catalyst dose. We found, with a 95% confidence level, that 99% of the contaminant can be degraded to pH 10, contaminant to 35 mg/L and a catalyst dose of 0.15 g TiO2.