Development of TiO2-Based Photocatalyst Supported on Ceramic Materials for Oxidation of Organic Pollutants in Liquid Phase

Water scarcity is one of the major concerns of this century. The photocatalysis through TiO2 can be suitable for improving liquid wastewater treatment. However, TiO2 is used as a powder (nanoparticles), which is a drawback for full-scale applications. To overcome this, in the present work, powder TiO2 was impregnated on ceramic material. Several parameters, such as support cleanliness, support load, TiO2 suspension concentration, powder dispersion in a solvent, contact method, and drying temperature, were evaluated on the impregnation method. The influence of TiO2 concentration in suspensions was tested from 1 to 10% w/w. The results showed that the preparation conditions impact the TiO2 impregnation yield. The 10%TiO2/Leca was the most effective in photocatalysis but had a relevant loss of TiO2 from the support by erosion. For 3.6%TiO2/Leca and 5%TiO2/Leca, at TiO2 concentrations of 86.6 and 102.5 mg/L promoted 71 to 85% of sulfamethoxazole removal in 6 h under UVA radiation, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the TiO2 adhesion onto the surface of the ceramic material, and the thickness of the TiO2 layer over the support can attain 7.64 to 10.9 mu m. The work showed that the TiO2 impregnation method over Leca could be suitable for obtaining cost-effective photocatalysts.