Microwave-Assisted Photocatalytic Degradation of Dimethyl Phthalate Over a Novel ZrOx Catalyst

A novel microwave-assisted photocatalytic active ZrOx catalyst, which has mix-valences and wide bandgap, has been prepared by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-assisted hydrothermal method. Structural and optical properties were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, N-2 adsorption-desorption, and UV-vis techniques. Total organic carbon (TOC) removal of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) (100 mL, 50mg L-1) with 1g L-1 ZrOx approached 84% after a 30-min reaction, which was about 15% and 11% higher than ZrO2 and P25 TiO2, respectively. TOC removal of DMP by microwave-assisted photocatalytic process followed pseudo-first-order kinetics in all cases, and ZrOx evidently accelerated the degradation of DMP. Degradation half-life time of DMP using ZrOx was shortened 43% and 34%, compared with ZrO2 and P25 TiO2, respectively. A possible catalytic mechanism of ZrOx was proposed based on microwave response and interfacial charge transfer analyses. Further research on ZrOx may develop a promising new generation of highly efficient catalysts for the microwave-assisted photocatalytic process for environmental remediation.