Photocatalytic oxidation of xenobiotics in water with immobilized TiO2 on agitator

A novel photocatalytic oxidation reactor, using Degussa P-25 TiO2 as a stationary phase with a thickness of 1.5-2.0 um on the blades of agitator, was developed to study the photocatalytic oxidation of xenobiotics. Particularly in this device, separation of photocatalyst from the purified water after oxidation reaction was not necessary, and no other aeration equipment was required to supply oxygen. To examine the efficiency of this device, photocatalytic degradation of xenobiotic organics such as carbofuran was studied as an example. Results indicated that carbofuran could be degraded completely with mineralization efficiency of 20 % after 6 hours of oxidation under the imposed conditions. The mineralization rate of carbofuran was found to follow the pseudo-first order reaction kinetics. Moreover, the rate constant of mineralization was found to be proportional to TiO2 film area and the square root of UV light intensity. Theseresults implied the mineralization efficiency of carbofuran could be improved through increasing TiO2 firm area and UV light intensity. Accordingly, this novel device showed potential application for degrading xenobiotics in water.